Insight into the Microenvironments of the Metal–Ionic Liquid Interface during Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Recently, many experimental and theoretical efforts are being intensified to develop high-performance catalysts for electrochemical CO2 conversion. Beyond the catalyst material screening, it is also critical to optimize the surrounding reaction medium. From vast experiments, inclusion of room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) in the electrolyte is found to be beneficial for CO2 conversion; however, there is no unified picture of the role of RTIL, prohibiting further optimization of the reaction medium. Using a state-of-the-art multiscale simulation, we here unveil the atomic origin of the catalytic promotion effect of RTIL during CO2 conversion. Unlike the conventional belief, which assumes a specific intermolecular coordination by the RTIL component, we find that the promotion effect is collectively manifested by tuning the reaction microenvironment. This mechanism suggests the critical importance of the bulk properties (e.g., resistance, gas solubility and diffusivity, viscosity, etc.) over the detailed chemical variations of the RTIL components in designing the optimal electrolyte components, which is further supported by our experiments. This fundamental understanding of complex electrochemical interfaces will help in the development of more advanced electrochemical CO2 conversion catalytic systems in the future.