Strong CO Research Articles

Interface engineering on single-atom Cu-modified BiOBr1−xClx for efficient artificial photosynthesis of methanol

Converting CO2 into value-added fuels was an attractive way to alleviate the energy crisis. Cu-based catalysts were recognized as the most effective candidates for catalyzing CO2 to solar fuels due to their specific electronic structure. However, selective production of desired fuels from photocatalytic CO2 reduction remained a grand challenge. Herein, the interface engineering of single-atom Cu with BiOBr1−xClx nanosheets (Cu-SA/BOBC) was demonstrated to address this challenge. The single-atom Cu in BOBC favored charge transition, carrier separation, and photon utilization, with a superior performance of CO2 photoreduction yielding CH3OH of 8.21 μmol·g−1·h−1, 94.3 % electron-based CH3OH selectivity. Meanwhile, it could lower the CO2 activation energy barrier, and be conducive to strong CO* adsorption and subsequent hydrogenation of CO* to CHO*, which was critical for the high selectivity of CH3OH. This work highlighted a new insight into regulating the photoreduction of CO2 to CH3OH by interfacial interaction.

Impacts of shellfish and macroalgae mariculture on the seawater carbonate system and air-sea [formula omitted] flux in Haizhou Bay, China

China is the largest mariculture country, and shellfish and algae output ranks first, showing high carbon sink capacity. In recent years, the single cultivation of macroalgae (Pyropia yezoensis) has been changed to macroalgae-shellfish mariculture in Haizhou Bay to increase the yield of P. yezoensis and improve the water environment quality. In this study, four surveys were carried out in July 2022 during the monoculture period of oyster (Magallana gigas), as well as at different stages of P. yezoensis culture (head-crop period, November 2022, peak growing season, January 2023, and end of harvesting, March 2023) in the mariculture and the surrounding waters of Haizhou Bay. The effects of different stages of culture on the seawater environment and seasonal and spatial variations in the carbonate system were analyzed, and the carbon sink capacity was preliminarily estimated. The results showed that in summer, the calcification of M. gigas and the primary production process of phytoplankton effectively reduced the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) level in the culture area. The culture area acts as a CO2 sink, with an average air-sea CO2 flux of −4.5 mmol m−2 d−1. During the polyculture period, the P. yezoensis culture activities maintained the stability of the seawater carbonate system, and the culture area shows strong CO2 sinks, with the average air-sea CO2 flux of −24.10 mmol m−2 d−1, -37.68 mmol m−2 d−1, and -38.99 mmol m−2 d−1, respectively. The absorption of CO2 by large-scale cultured P. yezoensis through the "biological pump" effect is the main factor affecting the CO2 exchange process at the air-sea interface, and the absorption rate of CO2 by P. yezoensis at the mature stage is higher than that at the growth stage before harvesting. The study revealed that macroalgae-shellfish mariculture could promote mutual growth, alleviate environmental pressure, and enhance the carbon sink of the culture area. The relationship between mariculture and the carbon cycle of a mariculture ecosystem is very complicated, and its biochemical process should be given great attention for further study.

Hydroxylated TiO2-induced high-density Ni clusters for breaking the activity-selectivity trade-off of CO2 hydrogenation

The reverse water gas shift reaction can be considered as a promising route to mitigate global warming by converting CO2 into syngas in a large scale, while it is still challenging for non-Cu-based catalysts to break the trade-off between activity and selectivity. Here, the relatively high loading of Ni species is highly dispersed on hydroxylated TiO2 through the strong Ni and −OH interactions, thereby inducing the formation of rich and stable Ni clusters (~1 nm) on anatase TiO2 during the reverse water gas shift reaction. This Ni cluster/TiO2 catalyst shows a simultaneous high CO2 conversion and high CO selectivity. Comprehensive characterizations and theoretical calculations demonstrate Ni cluster/TiO2 interfacial sites with strong CO2 activation capacity and weak CO adsorption are responsible for its unique catalytic performances. This work disentangles the activity-selectivity trade-off of the reverse water gas shift reaction, and emphasizes the importance of metal−OH interactions on surface.

Customizing Ionic Liquids Functionalized MOFs Composites with Hydrophobic Interface for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to generate feedstocks for chemical products (e.g., carbon monoxide, CO) offers a highly attractive method for achieving the closure of the carbon cycle. Ionic liquids (ILs)-functionalized Cu-based catalyst Cu2O-HKUST-1/IL1/PTFE was developed, configuring metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) based materials with high adsorption and multiple active sites. The modified electrocatalysts exhibited high specific surface area, strong CO2 adsorption capacity, abundant active sites, and fast charge transfer rate. The nucleophilic active site of deprotonation at the C2 site in imidazole ILs further improved the selectivity of proton migration and CO product generation, which was verified through DFT calculations for the low Gibbs free energy of the generated intermediate interactions. In addition, the hydrophobic interface constructed by PTFE facilitated the inhibition of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and significantly improved the efficiency of CO2 electroreduction. The Cu2O-HKUST-1/IL1/PTFE catalyst manifested a high C1 Faraday efficiency (FE) up to 96.5% and in particular 92.7% for FECO at -1.7 V vs RHE. The present work provides an efficient strategy for configuring ILs-functionalized MOFs-based materials with good hydrophobic interfaces to enhance the efficiency of CO2 electroreduction to C1 products.

Unveiling the porosity effect of superbase ionic liquid-modified carbon sorbents in CO2 capture from air

Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 represents one of the most promising technologies to achieve negative carbon emissions. In this work, the superbase ionic liquids (ILs)-modified carbon substrates were developed for DAC of CO2 by harnessing the strong CO2 binding capability of IL and the ordered porous channels of the carbon supports. Detailed porosity analysis revealed that the IL with an aromatic cation and an oxygenate anion preferred to fill the micropores, and a thin layer was created on the surface of the mesopores. Strong π-π interaction between the IL layer and the carbon surface was disclosed by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) analysis, leading to enhanced thermal stability of the IL phase. For the same lL coating amount, the DAC of CO2 evaluation revealed that a larger mesopore size and pore volume in the carbon/IL composite materials led to higher CO2 uptake capacity by exposing more active sites to integrate CO2 from diluted sources. The thermodynamic analysis confirmed the critical role of IL coating in providing strong chemisorption sites and significantly improved selectivity to enrich the diluted CO2 from the air atmosphere. This work provides guidance on leveraging the scaffolds' surface properties and porosities of the scaffolds to optimize DAC of CO2 behavior.

Ru Single Atom Dispersed Cu Nanoparticle with Dual Sites Enables Outstanding Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction.

Cu-based catalysts are promising candidates for CO2 reduction owing to the favorable energetics of Cu sites for CO2 adsorption and transformation. However, CO2 reduction involving insurmountable activation barriers and various byproducts remains a significant challenge to achieve high activity and selectivity. Herein, a photocatalyst constructed with single-Ru-site-on-Cu-nanoparticle on Bi4Ti3O12 exhibits exceptional activity and selectivity for CO2 conversion to CO. The experimental and theoretical results consistently reveal that the Ru-Cu dual sites allow the rapid transfer of photogenerated carriers for closely interacting with CO2 molecules. Importantly, the Ru-Cu dual sites exhibit extremely strong CO2 adsorption ability, and the Gibbs free energy of the rate-determining step (*CO2 to *COOH) has been significantly reduced, synergistically enhancing the entire CO2 conversion process. The optimal BTOCu2Ru0.5 photocatalyst manifests a high performance for selective reduction of CO2 to CO, yielding 10.84 μmol over 15 mg of photocatalyst in 4 h (180.67 μmol·g-1·h-1) under a 300 W Xe lamp without any photosensitizer and sacrificial reagent, outperforming all bismuth-based materials and being one of the best photocatalysts ever reported under similar reaction conditions. This work presents a strategy for the rational design of multiple metal sites toward efficient photocatalytic reduction of CO2.

Ni-Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction Toward Ethanol.

The electroreduction of CO2 offers a sustainable route to generate synthetic fuels. Cu-based catalysts have been developed to produce value-added C2+ alcohols; however, the limited understanding of complex C-C coupling and reaction pathway hinders the development of efficient CO2-to-C2+ alcohols catalysts. Herein, a Cu-free, highly mesoporous NiO catalyst, derived from the microphase separation of a block copolymer,is reported, which achieves selective CO2 reduction toward ethanol with a Faradaic efficiency of 75.2% at -0.6V versus RHE. The dense mesopores create a favorable local reaction environment with CO2-rich and H2O-deficient interfaces, suppressing hydrogen evolution and maximizing catalytic activity of NiO for CO2 reduction. Importantly, the C1-feeding experiments, in situ spectroscopy, and theoretical calculations consistently show that the direct coupling of *CO2 and *COOH is responsible for C-C bond formation on NiO, and subsequent reduction of *CO2-COOH to ethanol is energetically facile through the *COCOH and *OC2H5 pathway. The unconventional C-C coupling mechanism on NiO, in contrast to the *CO dimerization on Cu, is triggered by strong CO2 adsorption on the polarized Ni2+-O2- sites. The work not only demonstrates a highly selective Cu-free Ni-based alternative for CO2-to-C2+ alcohols transformation but also provides a new perspective on C-C coupling toward C2+ synthesis.

Neurovascular coupling and CO2 interrogate distinct vascular regulations

Neurovascular coupling (NVC), which mediates rapid increases in cerebral blood flow in response to neuronal activation, is commonly used to map brain activation or dysfunction. Here we tested the reemerging hypothesis that CO2 generated by neuronal metabolism contributes to NVC. We combined functional ultrasound and two-photon imaging in the mouse barrel cortex to specifically examine the onsets of local changes in vessel diameter, blood flow dynamics, vascular/perivascular/intracellular pH, and intracellular calcium signals along the vascular arbor in response to a short and strong CO2 challenge (10 s, 20%) and whisker stimulation. We report that the brief hypercapnia reversibly acidifies all cells of the arteriole wall and the periarteriolar space 3–4 s prior to the arteriole dilation. During this prolonged lag period, NVC triggered by whisker stimulation is not affected by the acidification of the entire neurovascular unit. As it also persists under condition of continuous inflow of CO2, we conclude that CO2 is not involved in NVC.

Synthesis of metal-doped covalent triazine frameworks: Incorporation into 6FDA-Durene polyimide for CO2 separation through mixed matrix membranes

The development of advanced mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) is expanding through the design of functionalized materials and efficient hybrid mass transfer mechanisms to meet the growing needs for practical and cost-effective gas separation technologies. Here, a novel series of transition metal-doped covalent triazine frameworks (M2+CTFs) was synthesized and incorporated into a 6FDA-Durene polyimide (PI) matrix in the range of 0–0.5 wt% to prepare cost-effective facilitated transport MMMs with high CO2 separation performance. Qualitative and quantitative analyses including FTIR, XPS, CHN, XRF, BET, XRD, TGA, DLS, FESEM, EDX, and TEM were carried out. The presence of nucleophilic N sites and electron-rich heterocycles in highly porous CTFs (through the π–π-stacking interactions with CO2 molecules), together with transition metal ions (Fe2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+) as the fixed site active carriers (with strong CO2 facilitated transport through the π complexation/decomplexation reaction), improves the affinity for CO2 molecules, facilitates their transport, and subsequently increases the CO2/non-polar gas selectivity of MMMs. The resultant M2+CTF/PI MMMs successfully surpass the 2008 upper bound at filler loading of 0.4 wt% for CO2/CH4 and CO2/N2 separations. Embedding M2+CTFs into the PI matrix improves the mechanical properties of the membranes. The Zn2+CTF/PI MMM represents the best separation performance with a CO2 permeability of 1408 Barrer, a CO2/N2 selectivity of 37, and a CO2/CH4 selectivity of 39, which represents a 120 %, 111 %, and 110 % increase compared to the neat PI membrane at a feed pressure of 2 bar. The excellent results of the present study indicate the high potential of cost-efficient synthesized M2+CTF particles and related facilitated transport MMMs for possible application in industrial processes.

Facile infiltration of polyethyleneimine as a strong CO2 retardant in scalable dual-polymer membranes for H2/CO2 separation

Successful pre-combustion CO2 capture from synthetic gas for H2 production requires effective membrane separation technology. While polymer-based membrane materials offer promising industrial scalability, they generally lack a sufficiently high H2/CO2 selectivity to make this process energy-efficient. In this work, we have designed a scalable dual-polymer blend membrane consisting of sulfonated polyphenylsulfone (sPPSU) and polybenzimidazole (PBI), and then being infiltrated with amine-rich poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) molecules as effective CO2 retardants to substantially elevate the H2/CO2 selectivity. PEI molecules were infiltrated into the dual-polymer matrix via solution-treatment to crosslink the polymer network and retard CO2 transport using its amine-rich nature. The PEI infiltration dramatically increased the H2/CO2 selectivity of the dual-polymer matrix from 4.6 to up to 59.3 while maintaining a minimum H2 permeability of 2.49 Barrer at a low temperature of 35 °C, which not only surpasses the Robeson upper bound but also places the newly developed membrane among the best-performing polymer-based membranes. More importantly, the solution infiltration of PEI incurs no phase segregation, maintaining the polymer mechanical robustness, which is crucial for industrial scaling. This study offers promising opportunities to develop three-polymer membrane systems for H2/CO2 separation using synergistic polymer blends and CO2-retarding molecules.

Selective electroreduction of CO2 to C2+ products on cobalt decorated copper catalysts

Cu-catalyzed electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to multi-carbon (C2+) products is often plagued by low selectivity because the adsorption energies of different reaction intermediates are in a linear scaling relationship. Development of Cu-based bimetallic catalysts has been considered as an attractive strategy to address this issue; however, conventional bimetallic catalysts often avoid metals with strong CO adsorption energies to prevent surface poisoning. Herein, we demonstrated that limiting the amount of Co in CuCo bimetallic catalysts can enhance C2+ product selectivity. Specifically, we synthesized a series of CuCox catalysts with trace amounts of Co (0.07-1.8 at%) decorated on the surface of Cu nanowires using a simple dip coating method. Our results revealed a volcano-shaped correlation between Co loading and C2+ selectivity, with the CuCo0.4% catalyst exhibiting a 2-fold increase in C2+ selectivity compared to the Cu nanowire sample. In situ Raman and Infrared spectroscopies suggested that an optimal amount of Co could stabilize the Cu oxide/hydroxide species under the CO2RR condition and promote the adsorption of CO, thus enhancing the C2+ selectivity. This work expands the potential for developing Cu-based bimetallic catalysts for CO2RR.

Ionic Liquids Functionalized Copper Catalytic Systems for Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction

The extensive combustion of fossil fuels results in excessive release of carbon dioxide (CO2), causing a global environmental crisis. It is imperative to develop sustainable methods for converting CO2 into renewable energy sources. Electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) offers the potential to generate valuable chemicals, including C1 products (e.g., carbon monoxide, methane, etc.) and C2+ products (e.g., ethene, ethanol, acetic acid, propyl alcohol, etc.). Copper‐based (Cu‐based) catalysts show promise for producing value‐added C2+ products, but they face challenges like low selectivity and stability. The catalytic performances of Cu‐based catalysts can be promoted through electronic structure adjustment, selective crystal face exposure, as well as molecular additive approaches. Ionic liquids (ILs), known for their strong CO2 adsorption capacity, adjustable hydrophobicity, and wide chemical window, hold significant promise for addressing the current challenges associated with Cu‐based catalysts. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the structural characterization and catalytic mechanisms of ILs used in Cu‐based CO2RR catalytic systems. Additionally, it offers suggestions for future research avenues regarding IL‐functionalized Cu catalysts.

Strong pCO2 Undersaturation in an Arctic Sea: A Decade of Spatial and Temporal Variability in Baffin Bay

AbstractUtilizing an 11‐year (2011–2021) data set, we report surface‐ocean pCO2 in Baffin Bay during the open‐water season (June–October) to establish a baseline understanding of surface seawater carbon dynamics in this region. We found pCO2 was strongly undersaturated (70–130 μatm below saturation, depending on year), albeit with substantial regional variability. Though temperature was found to be a generally strong control of pCO2, sea‐ice dynamics and other non‐thermal drivers controlled pCO2 at certain times and in certain regions. The Baffin Island Current region (western Baffin Bay) experienced relatively high pCO2 during instances of high sea‐ice cover, usually in early spring. Average pCO2 was comparatively lower in the West Greenland Current region (eastern Baffin Bay) which is ice‐free substantially longer (by 3–4 months) and where temperature acted as the dominant control to pCO2. With respect to temporal variations, June had the lowest pCO2 of the open‐water season, coinciding with active sea‐ice melt. Surface‐ocean pCO2 then increased month‐to‐month through July and August due to warming and decreased meltwater dilution, increasing again into September before stabilizing into October. Generally, non‐thermal controls acted to decrease pCO2 during mid‐summer (possibly primary production, sea‐ice melt, and circulation), but acted to increase pCO2 during early fall (vertical mixing). Despite spatial and temporal variation over the open‐water season, persistent undersaturation suggests that Baffin Bay is a potentially strong CO2 sink, even in comparison to other uptake regions across the western Arctic.

Direct observational evidence of strong CO2 uptake in the Southern Ocean.

The Southern Ocean is the primary region for the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) and is, therefore, crucial for Earth's climate. However, the Southern Ocean CO2 flux estimates reveal substantial uncertainties and lack direct validation. Using seven independent and directly measured air-sea CO2 flux datasets, we identify a 25% stronger CO2 uptake in the Southern Ocean than shipboard dataset-based flux estimates. Accounting for upper ocean temperature gradients and insufficient temporal resolution of flux products can bridge this flux gap. The gas transfer velocity parameterization is not the main reason for the flux disagreement. The profiling float data-based flux products and biogeochemistry models considerably underestimate the observed CO2 uptake, which may be due to the lack of representation of small-scale high-flux events. Our study suggests that the Southern Ocean may take up more CO2 than previously recognized, and that temperature corrections should be considered, and a higher resolution is needed in data-based bulk flux estimates.

Fluorine atoms incorporation strengthens the strong metal-support interaction of PtNi@NFGC for enhanced methanol oxidation reaction performance under alkaline media

The regulatory mechanism of strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is of great significance in improving the electrocatalytic performance for supported electrocatalysts. Here, PtNi alloy nanoparticles were deposited on N, F-codoped graphene-like carbon nanosheets (PtNi@NFGC) to construct a highly active interface for efficient methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), which solves the problems of high cost, poor activity and easy aggregation of Pt-based catalysts. Due to the high electrophilicity, F atoms doping into the carbon lattice can not only manipulate the electron structure and the state of the carbon skeleton, but also further trigger the stronger charge transfer between metal atoms and carbon support. Compared with single-doped PtNi@NGC, N, F-codoped PtNi@NFGC possesses a lower onset potential and methanol oxidation potential, higher methanol oxidation current and stronger CO tolerance. The results of the partial density of state (PDOS) simulation display that N, F-codoping promotes the electron transfer from Pt atoms to NFGC support, and leads to the d-band center shift upward, thus strengthening the oxidation degree of Pt active sites and increasing the composition of high-valent Ptx+. In-situ Raman analysis and density functional theory (DFT) results expound that F atoms embedding observably enhances the adsorption energy of Pt active centers to *OH intermediates, which not only significantly improves MOR catalytic activity, but also achieves efficient methanol dehydrogenation and alleviates CO poisoning. This customization of metal-support interface interaction by heteroatom doping strategy opens up opportunities for designing efficient supported catalysts.

Exploring the impact of nocturnal boundary layer stability on wintertime air pollution in a highly polluted basin city using unsupervised learning classification

This study utilizes ten years of wintertime boundary layer meteorological and surface air quality observations to characterize the nocturnal boundary layer (NBL) stability and assess its relationship with air pollution in Taiyuan, a highly polluted basin city in China. An unsupervised learning feature extraction technique known as the self-organizing map (SOM) is applied to objectively classify nocturnal virtual potential temperature (VPT) profiles. The SOM-based classification scheme allows the representation of wintertime day-to-day NBL evolutions by just nine regimes. Special attention is given to four dominant regimes: weak to moderate stability regime (NBL1), cloudy moderate stability regime (NBL3), windy moderate stability regime (NBL7), and strong stability regime (NBL9). These dominant regimes have relatively higher occurrence frequencies (>10%), with the highest frequency associated with the strong stability regime (NBL9) at 25.2%. The diurnal cycles of selected pollutants (CO, NO2, SO2, and PM2.5) exhibit significant distinctions among the different NBL regimes. For instance, in the strong stability regime, CO, NO2, and PM2.5 show explosive growth in the evening due to the accumulation of primary pollutants. However, in the cloudy moderate stability regime, PM2.5 exhibits persistent slow growth throughout the day, likely due to secondary particle formation under high humidity and high SO2 conditions. These findings enhance our understanding of NBL meteorological impacts on surface air pollution in basin cities.

Insights into the Electrochemical CO2RR Performance and Binding of Small Molecules on Quaternary Thiospinels Ag2FeSn3S8 and Cu2FeSn3S8.

Using a mechanical synthesis method in the form of ball milling and an additional annealing step, a novel and accelerated route for the synthesis of the thiospinels toyohaite (Ag2FeSn3S8) and rhodostannite (Cu2FeSn3S8) was discovered. Both thiospinels display faradaic efficiencies of up to 73% for CO2 reduction to CO using an organic electrolyte in an H-type cell. The materials were furthermore implemented in a zero-gap electrolyzer, with toyohaite producing 22% CO and 52% H2 at 100 mA cm-2 and rhodostannite 28% CO and 37% H2. The catalytically active sites are studied using density functional theory, revealing strong CO binding interactions on both Ag and Cu, whereas Sn is found to contribute to the decomposition of Ag2FeSn3S8 and Cu2FeSn3S8 by coordination with oxygen. Postmortem analysis of the thiospinel-based electrodes by means of SEM-EDX, XRD, XPS, and Mössbauer spectroscopy showed sulfur leaching from the catalysts after applying 100 mA cm-2. These spectroscopic results-in conjunction with DFT calculations of the oxidized surfaces-suggest that the catalytically active species consists of metal oxides. As a conversion of the metal sulfides into the corresponding metallic species was observed via XRD, the decomposition pathways of both catalysts were also computed using DFT; thus, elucidating the energetically most favorable decomposition products and expanding the possible composition of the catalysts postelectrolysis.

High‐Resolution Neural Network Demonstrates Strong CO2 Source‐Sink Juxtaposition in the Coastal Zone

AbstractThe role of coastal oceans in regulating atmospheric carbon dioxide remains poorly quantified and understood. Here, we use a two‐step neural network approach to generate estimates from sparse observational data in the coastal Northeast Pacific Ocean at an unprecedented spatial resolution of 1/12° with coverage in the nearshore (0–25 km offshore). We compiled partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) observations as well as a range of predictor variables including satellite‐based and physical oceanographic reanalysis products. With the predictor variables representing processes affecting pCO2, we created non‐linear relationships to interpolate observations from 1998 to 2019. Compared to in situ shipboard and mooring observations, our coastal pCO2 product captures broad spatial patterns and seasonal cycle variability well. A sensitivity analysis identifies that the parameters responsible for the neural network's ability to capture regional pCO2 variability are associated with mechanistic processes, including mixed layer deepening, mesoscale eddies, and gyre upwelling. Using wind speed and atmospheric CO2, we calculated air‐sea CO2 fluxes. We report an anticorrelation between annual air‐sea CO2 flux and its seasonal amplitude with the relationship driven by circulation, opposing seasonal upwelling/relaxation versus downwelling, and the effects of winter mixing and primary productivity. We show that the inclusion of nearshore net outgassing fluxes lowers the overall regional net flux. Overall, our results suggest that the region is a net sink (−0.7 mol m−2 yr−1) for atmospheric CO2 with trends indicating increasing oceanic uptake due to strong connectivity to subsurface waters.

The Atmosphere of HD 149026b: Low Metal Enrichment and Weak Energy Transport

Recent JWST eclipse spectra of the high-density hot Saturn HD 149026b between 2.35 and 5.08 μm have allowed for in-depth study of its atmosphere. To understand its atmospheric properties, we have created a grid of 1D radiative-convective–thermochemical–equilibrium atmosphere models and spectra with PICASO 3.0. In agreement with previous work, we find that the presence of gaseous TiO creates a thermal inversion, which is inconsistent with the data. The presence of gaseous VO, however, which condenses at temperatures 200 K cooler, does not cause such inversions but alters the temperature–pressure profile of the atmosphere. We estimate an atmospheric metallicity of 14−8+12× solar without VO and 20−8+11× solar with VO, a factor of ∼10 times smaller than previous work from Bean et al., who relied on atmosphere retrievals. We attribute this significant difference in metallicity to a larger temperature gradient at low pressures in radiative equilibrium models. Such models with lower metallicities readily fit the strong CO2 feature at 4.3 μm. Our lower estimated metallicity makes HD 149026b more consistent with the mass–metallicity relationship for other giant planets. We find a C/O ratio of 0.67−0.27+0.06 with and without VO. The best-fit heat redistribution factor without VO is 1.17, a very high value suggesting very little dayside energy transport and no energy transport to the nightside. The heat redistribution factor shrinks to a more plausible value of 0.91−0.05+0.05 , with VO, which we regard as circumstantial evidence for the molecule in the atmosphere of HD 149026b.

Competition between Initial CO2 Electroreduction and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction on Cu Catalysts in Acidic Media: Role of Specifically Adsorbed Halide Anions.

The role of halide anions and competing mechanisms between initial CO2 electroreduction pathways and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are systematically identified at halide anions modified Cu(111)/H2O interfaces based on density functional theory calculations in this paper. The present results show that halide anions modified Cu(111)/H2O interfaces can notably enhance electroreduction activity of CO2 into CO. Simultaneously, it is concluded that the specifically adsorbed halide anions modified Cu electrodes can inhibit HER by studying competing HER mechanisms, and thus the enhanced CO2 electroreduction activity can be ascribed to the suppressed HER. The origin of enhanced CO production activity and inhibited HER is further scrutinized. The present results show that the presence of halide anions can lead to stronger CO adsorption and the increased adsorption strength of CO can explain easier CO production based on the Sabatier principle. Interestingly, the calculated results show that the presence of halide anions does not exert an effect on H adsorption strength, which is regarded as a key descriptor of HER activity, implying that halide anions modified Cu electrodes may be not able to directly lead to the inhibited HER. However, the present results indicate that co-adsorbed CO can weaken adsorption strength between H and Cu electrodes and thus result in inhibited HER and decreased HER activity. The upshift of d-band centers of surface Cu atoms due to modification of halide anions may be a reason for stronger CO adsorption, whereas the downshift of the d-band center due to the presence of co-adsorbed CO can lead to a weakening effect on H adsorption strength. Our present insights into the role of halide anions can aid in designing an optimal electrolyte and developing electrocatalysts that are more selective toward CO2 electroreduction than HER.