Nanotech News and Headlines

Tailoring High‐Entropy Oxide via Grain Boundary Engineering to Establish Adjacent Asymmetric Redox Sites for Full‐Spectrum Photothermal Catalytic CO2 Reduction

The researchers applied grain boundary engineering to (CoCrFeMnNi)3O4 high‑entropy oxide nanosheets, creating adjacent asymmetric Fe‑Vo‑Cr‑O redox sites that simultaneously activate water and bind CO2. Electronic redistribution at the boundaries produces electron‑deficient Fe Lewis‑acid sites for proton generation and electron‑rich Cr‑O clusters that adsorb CO2 in a bridging configuration. Photothermal heating of the catalyst surface to roughly 198 °C further accelerates proton‑coupled electron transfer. The resulting system delivers CH4 and CO production rates of 677.7 and 957.2 µmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ with a 0.38% apparent quantum yield at 420 nm.