Synergistic Chemisorbing and Electronic Effects for Efficient CO₂ Reduction Using Cysteamine-Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles

Inspired by the architectural feature of the natural enzyme of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase, cysteamine-capped Au nanoparticles (CA–Au NPs) are investigated with remarkable mass activity for CO₂ reduction. CA–Au NPs exhibit exclusive CO selectivity, low onset overpotential, and a 110-fold enhancement in mass activity compared with ligand-free Au NPs. Electronic structure and in situ spectroscopy analyses indicate that increased activity is due to the electronic effect derived from thiolate anchoring on the surface and chemisorbing CO₂ and intermediates by terminal -NH₂ functional groups. Our study provides the basis for fabricating effective catalysts for CO₂ reduction.