@article{Cui2026, 
author = {Xin Cui and Xiaona Meng and Weixiong Huang and Bo Zhang and Ping Chen and Min Ruan and Lilin Lu},
title = {CO2-philic NiNC nanocatalyst regulation mediated by imidazole-based ZIF for high-efficiency CO2 electroreduction},
year = {2026},
journal = {Nano Research},
volume = {19},
number = {11},
pages = {94908559},
keywords = {electrochemical CO2 reduction, NiNC nanocatalyst, imidazole-based Ni-ZIF precursor, improved affinity for CO2, high-activity pyridinic N–Ni sites},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.26599/NR.2026.94908559},
doi = {10.26599/NR.2026.94908559},
abstract = {Developing highly efficient catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to convert CO2 into carbon-based chemicals and reduce anthropogenic carbon emissions is desirable but challenging. In this work, a high-activity NiNC-2mIM catalyst has been developed via pyrolysis of 2-methylimidazole (2mIM) Ni-zeolite-imidazolate-framework (ZIF) precursor, it exhibits excellent performance for CO2 reduction producing carbon monoxide (CO), with Faradaic efficiency for CO (FECO) of about 98% and a current density of 55 mA·cm−2 at −1.0 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)), outperforming the investigated NiNC-IM and NiNC-2eIM (derived from imidazole Ni-ZIF precursor and 2-ethylimidazole Ni-ZIF precursor, respectively) in this work and many previously reported Ni-based nanocatalysts. Mechanism studies demonstrate that 2-methylimidazole ligand induces higher content of pyridinic N species in the NiNC-2mIM catalyst, which enhances the affinity for CO2 and provides low-polarity and high-activity Ni–N motif for CO2RR. This work develops a novel imidazole-based ZIF mediated regulation strategy for engineering pyridinic N-rich N-doped carbon supported Ni nanocatalyst to highly efficiently catalyze CO2 reduction producing CO.}
}