Ton-scale Ni nanospheres with size-tuned local electric fields enable high-current-density ethylene glycol electrooxidation

Electrocatalyst design for ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) typically focuses on electronic structures but overlooks the geometry influence on interfacial electric fields. This gap, combined with limitations in milligram-scale synthesis, prevents scalable electrosynthesis via EGOR. Herein, we bridge interfacial electrochemistry with industrial-scale catalyst manufacturing via evaporation-condensation, producing monodisperse Ni nanospheres (200–1,000 nm) at >2 tons per batch. Systematic investigations reveal a volcano-type size-activity relationship: ∼600 nm nanospheres (Ni600) exhibit optimal EGOR performance. In situ spectroscopies, finite-element analysis, and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that increasing particle size weakens the local electric field intensity, enhancing K + accumulation and tuning the adsorption energetics of reactants, intermediates, and products. This geometry-field-activity correlation enables predictive catalyst optimization. Consequently, Ni600 delivers ∼93% EG-to-formate Faradaic efficiency with ∼96% yield at ∼400 mA cm −2 . Notably, this catalyst sustains ∼500 mA cm −2 for >226 h in a flow stack, validating curvature-field principles under industrially relevant current densities.