Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• • TGB-CuO achieves a Faradaic efficiency of 80.15% for C2+ products, with over 50% ethylene selectivity at 300 mA cm−2, sustained for 30 h, demonstrating industrial relevance for high-rate CO2 conversion. • • The Turing-type grain boundary architecture is formed at ~10 nm scale via balanced diffusion-reaction dynamics during pyrolysis, enabling high-density defects that are otherwise difficult to achieve. • • Specific grain boundary types (Cu(100)/(100), Cu(100)/(111), Cu(111)/(111)) are identified as active sites that lower the free energy barriers for the rate-determining steps (*CO2− → *COOH and C–C coupling), enhancing reaction kinetics. • • The catalyst retains its Turing-type grain boundary features after electroreduction (TGB-Cu), indicating structural stability under operating conditions, crucial for long-term durability.
Abstract
Constructing abundant grain boundary defects is a promising strategy for developing high-efficiency catalysts. However, achieving dense grain boundary defects in CuO and Cu at the nanoscale remains challenging. Inspired by Turing patterns in nature, a Turing-type CuO catalyst (TGB-CuO) with abundant grain boundaries at ~10 nm nanoscale was prepared by annealing a dodecyl sulfate-intercalated basic copper carbonate. The balanced diffusion-reaction dynamics during pyrolysis drove the spontaneous formation of Turing-type grain boundary architectures in TGB-CuO. The resulting TGB-CuO electrode exhibited outstanding performance in electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECO2RR), delivering a Faradaic efficiency of 80.15% toward multi-carbon (C2+) products and maintaining over 50% ethylene selectivity at 300 mA cm−2 for 30 h of continuous operation. Activity investigations indicated that the metallic Cu retaining Turing-type grain boundary features (TGB-Cu) formed during electroreduction was responsible for the enhanced ECO2RR performance. The Cu(100)/(100), Cu(100)/(111), and Cu(111)/(111) grain boundaries promoted CO2 activation and *CO adsorption, while lowering the free energy barriers for the rate-determining *CO2− → *COOH step and C–C coupling step. This bioinspired reaction-diffusion strategy offers a new paradigm for creating high-density grain boundary defects, offering a general route toward efficient catalyst design.
1. Introduction
The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (ECO2RR) offers a promising route to close the carbon cycle, yet achieving selective conversion to multi-carbon (C2+) products remains a major challenge due to complex multi-step proton-coupled electron transfers, high energy barriers for C–C coupling, sluggish intermediate kinetics, and competition from the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Conventional Cu-based catalysts suffer from insufficient activity and selectivity, often yielding predominantly C1 products or requiring high overpotentials that compromise energy efficiency. While strategies such as bimetallic alloys, oxide-derived structures, and facet engineering have been explored, they often introduce heteroatoms or lack precise control over defect density, limiting their practical applicability.
Grain boundaries, as two-dimensional intrinsic defects, have emerged as effective active sites for ECO2RR, but conventional synthesis methods (e.g., liquid-phase reduction, rapid thermal annealing) struggle to produce dense grain boundaries at the nanoscale. This study introduces a biomimetic approach inspired by Turing patterns, where balanced diffusion-reaction dynamics during pyrolysis spontaneously generate high-density grain boundaries in CuO. The resulting TGB-CuO catalyst demonstrates exceptional performance, achieving 80.15% Faradaic efficiency for C2+ products and stable ethylene selectivity over 30 hours, directly addressing the bottleneck of scalable, high-performance catalyst design for CO2 electroreduction.
Loading authentic research manuscript (Pages 1–5)...
Hualong Yu, Zhengrong Xu, Yang Yang, Aiguo Kong, Zilin Zhao, Yang Hou, Rui Liu (2026). Biomimetic design of Turing-type grain boundary defects in copper catalysts for boosting CO2 electroreduction to multi-carbon products. SCIENCE CHINA Materials. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-026-4113-3
Research & Educational Purpose Only: The translations, structured abstracts, analytical annotations, and data reports provided by SinoGreenTechare intended exclusively for academic research, internal corporate R&D, and educational benchmarking. They do not constitute formal engineering, chemical safety, legal, or professional advice.
Copyright & Intellectual Property Notice: Original copyright of the underlying source articles and experimental data remains with the respective authors, institutions, and original publishing journals. SinoGreenTech claims intellectual property only over its proprietary translations, analytical syntheses, and AEO structured enhancements in accordance with international fair use and academic citation principles.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the specific role of the Turing-type grain boundaries in enhancing CO2 reduction activity, and how do they compare to conventional grain boundaries?
The Turing-type grain boundaries, specifically Cu(100)/(100), Cu(100)/(111), and Cu(111)/(111), are shown to promote CO2 activation and *CO adsorption while lowering the free energy barriers for the rate-determining steps (*CO2− → *COOH and C–C coupling). This is attributed to the unique atomic-scale disorder and mesoscale connectivity that create spatially distributed active domains, which are more effective than conventional grain boundaries due to higher density and controlled orientation.
How does the TGB-CuO catalyst achieve 80.15% Faradaic efficiency for C2+ products at 300 mA cm−2, and what is the stability under continuous operation?
The catalyst maintains over 50% ethylene selectivity at 300 mA cm−2 for 30 hours of continuous operation, indicating robust stability. The high Faradaic efficiency is attributed to the dense grain boundaries that enhance intermediate adsorption and C–C coupling kinetics, while the stability is ensured by the retention of Turing-type features in the metallic Cu phase formed during electroreduction.
What is the scalability potential of the Turing-type CuO synthesis method for industrial applications?
The synthesis involves annealing a dodecyl sulfate-intercalated basic copper carbonate, which is a relatively simple and scalable process. The resulting catalyst exhibits high performance at industrially relevant current densities (300 mA cm−2), suggesting potential for scale-up, though further studies on larger electrode areas and long-term durability are needed.
What are the key structural features of the TGB-CuO catalyst that enable high-density grain boundaries at ~10 nm scale?
The balanced diffusion-reaction dynamics during pyrolysis drive the spontaneous formation of Turing-type grain boundary architectures. The intercalation of dodecyl sulfate likely creates a template that controls the nucleation and growth, leading to nanoscale grain boundaries with high density, which are critical for enhanced catalytic performance.
How does the TGB-CuO catalyst compare to other Cu-based catalysts in terms of C2+ selectivity and stability?
The TGB-CuO catalyst achieves 80.15% Faradaic efficiency for C2+ products, which is among the highest reported for Cu-based catalysts under similar conditions. Its stability over 30 hours at high current density is also notable, outperforming many oxide-derived Cu catalysts that often degrade due to structural reconstruction.
Related Chinese Research & Cross-Citations
Ammonium Vanadate Cathodes in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Design Strategies and Research Progress
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) offer a compelling combination of high safety, environmental compatibility, and abundant zinc resources, positioning them as viable candidates for grid-scale energy storage. Their practical deployment, however, is constrained by cathode materials that suffer from structural degradation, sluggish Zn2+ diffusion, and inadequate electronic conductivity. Ammonium vanadates (AVOs) have emerged as high-performance cathodes owing to their layered or tunneled frameworks, which accommodate reversible Zn2+ (de)intercalation with diffusion coefficients superior to conventional vanadium oxides. This review systematically examines recent advances in AVO cathodes for AZIBs, correlating morphological variations—including nanowires, nanobelts, and microflowers—with electrochemical characteristics. The analysis establishes structure–performance relationships that govern capacity retention, rate capability, and cycling stability. Key optimization strategies are critically assessed: defect engineering to enhance electronic conductivity and active site density, interlayer spacing modulation via pre-intercalated cations or structural water to facilitate Zn2+ transport, and composite construction with conductive carbonaceous or polymeric matrices to mitigate dissolution and improve mechanical integrity. Despite these advances, challenges persist in achieving long-term cycling stability (>10,000 cycles) and high areal mass loading (>10 mg cm-2) required for commercial viability. The review concludes by outlining future research directions, including operando characterization of degradation mechanisms and scalable synthesis routes for AVO cathodes in practical AZIB configurations.
Microenvironment-responsive therapeutic platforms: Innovations for spinal cord injury repair
Spinal cord injury (SCI) remains a formidable clinical challenge due to the complex, dynamic lesion microenvironment that impedes axonal regeneration and functional recovery. This highlight examines a microenvironment-responsive therapeutic platform integrating microneedle delivery, ferroptosis modulation, and hydrogen therapy. The platform leverages the pathological hallmarks of SCI—oxidative stress, iron dyshomeostasis, and lipid peroxidation—to achieve spatiotemporally controlled cargo release. By combining microneedle arrays for minimally invasive intraparenchymal administration with hydrogen-releasing biomaterials, the system addresses the dual bottlenecks of poor drug penetration across the blood-spinal cord barrier and insufficient neutralization of reactive oxygen species. Ferroptosis inhibition is achieved through iron chelation and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) stabilization, while hydrogen gas scavenges hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite. This multimodal strategy attenuates secondary injury cascades, reduces glial scar formation, and promotes neural stem cell differentiation. The work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82574518) and the Talent Cultivation Project of Paring Academicians with Young Talents in higher education institutions in Zhejiang. The authors declare no conflict of interest. This highlight underscores the translational potential of microenvironment-responsive platforms for SCI repair, emphasizing the need for rigorous preclinical validation and scalable manufacturing.
Dual-Site Adsorption over Phosphorus-Doped Copper Oxide for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction to Ethylene
Electroreduction of CO2 to ethylene offers a promising route for renewable electricity storage, yet achieving high ethylene selectivity at industrial current densities remains challenging due to the large energy barrier for C–C coupling. Here, we report a “MOF-assisted in situ doping” strategy to introduce the oxophilic nonmetal phosphorus (P) into the copper oxide (CuO) lattice, constructing a localized Cu–P dual-site adsorption configuration for the key *OCCHO intermediate. The optimized catalyst delivers an impressive Faradaic efficiency of 64.6% for ethylene with a partial current density of 646 mA cm-2. Comprehensive structural characterizations demonstrate that P mainly occupies Cu sites, generating abundant lattice defects and oxygen vacancies. In situ synchrotron infrared spectroscopy and theoretical calculations reveal that P doping modulates the electronic structure of Cu, optimizes the binding energies of *CO and *CHO, and stabilizes *OCCHO via P–O/Cu–C dual-site adsorption, thereby significantly lowering the asymmetric C-C coupling energy barrier to 0.74 eV. This work highlights a dual-site microenvironment regulation strategy for CO2-to-ethylene electroreduction.
Hydrophilic Single-Atom Interface Unlocks Low-Potential CO Removal on Pt in PEMFCs
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) fed with reformate hydrogen suffer severe anode poisoning by trace CO, necessitating high CO electrooxidation potentials that degrade performance and durability. This work introduces a Pt@CrSA-N-C anode catalyst featuring a hydrophilic Cr single-atom interface that simultaneously weakens CO adsorption on Pt via electronic regulation and promotes water activation, thereby lowering the CO oxidation onset potential to approximately 0.13 V vs. RHE. The onset potential was determined by two independent methods: the first potential at which the background-corrected current exceeds 0 mA cm-2 during CO oxidation reaction tests in a three-electrode system, and the potential at which the forward scan current exceeds the N2 background current in CO-stripping voltammetry. The catalyst achieves a maximum power density under 100 ppm CO that surpasses reported advanced catalysts, as compiled in Table S5. Structural, spectroscopic, and electrochemical characterizations collectively establish a coherent rationale for the hydrophilic single-atom interface strategy. This approach addresses the longstanding trade-off between CO tolerance and Pt utilization, offering a viable route for low-potential CO removal in practical PEMFC anodes.
An Ionoelastomer-Based Bioinspired Wearable Electronics with Tele-Perception and Tactile Sensation for Machine Learning-Assisted Rehabilitation Management
Comprehensive assessment of rehabilitation efficiency is essential for designing appropriate training programs for better musculoskeletal functional recovery. Existing contact-receptor-dependent rehabilitation assessment systems mostly focus on assessing the restoration of muscle function by evaluating grip strength or joint flexion angle; however, parameters reflecting neuromuscular synergistic function are always overlooked. Herein, we develop an ionoelastomer-based soft artificial electroreceptor (SAER) that integrates tele-perception and tactile sensation to track the rehabilitation process, collecting signals related to approaching speed and grip strength sequentially. The SAER uses polyurethane ionoelastomer incorporated with quasi-solid conductive salt as the electric field receptor, and is integrated on a rehabilitation-training ball after assembly to establish an untethered detection device; this enables the remote capture of hand approaching parameter within a 9 cm range, followed by the quantification of grip strength when contacting and grasping. Furthermore, a data-driven assessment system is established by integrating machine learning, which accurately classifies rehabilitation efficiency into six levels; it supports for rehabilitation evaluation and training programs adjustment. Overall, the SAER-based rehabilitation management system establishes a paradigm that synergistically evaluating parameters corresponding to neuromuscular functional restoration and holds strong potential for home-based active rehabilitation for minimizing dependence on frequent clinical supervision.
Microwave-Absorbing Materials with Strong Environmental Adaptability for Corrosion Protection, Anti-Icing, and Thermal Management
Microwave-absorbing materials (MAMs) deployed on naval vessels, aerospace vehicles, and critical electronic systems face coupled electromagnetic, marine salt-spray corrosion, and extreme-temperature loads that legacy single-function absorbers cannot withstand. This review consolidates progress on three environmentally adaptive MAM classes: corrosion-protective, anti-icing, and thermal-management absorbers. The electromagnetic loss and impedance-matching fundamentals are first established, then the synergistic mechanisms, design strategies, and characterization protocols for each class are examined against representative material systems and their measured performance. The analysis identifies a shared design logic—multiscale hierarchical architecture, interfacial polarization engineering, and multifunctional phase integration—while distinguishing the divergent protection mechanisms: barrier and passivation effects for corrosion, surface-energy and latent-heat regulation for anti-icing, and phonon–electron transport decoupling for thermal management. Persistent bottlenecks include the trade-off between impedance matching and protective-layer density, the absence of standardized coupled-field test protocols, and the scarcity of long-term salt-spray and thermal-cycling durability data. Future directions are delineated: intelligent self-adaptive absorbers, multiphysics-coupled simulation frameworks, and environmentally benign multifunctional integration. The review provides a theoretical and technical basis for the design, construction, and engineering scale-up of next-generation high-performance absorbers for aerospace, electronic, and marine equipment.