Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2602.17953

Efficient photocatalytic CO2 Reduction to C2+ Products with Pt1-xPdxSn4 Dirac Nodal Arc Semimetal

Abstract

The photochemical CO2 reduction reaction represents a zero-carbon pathway for converting CO2 into value-added chemicals, yet its industrial implementation has been constrained by low selectivity and product diversity. Dirac nodal arc semimetals characterized by ultrahigh carrier mobility with over 25000 cm2 V-1 s-1 offer a promising platform to search for efficient catalysts for CO2 conversion. Herein, we demonstrate that strategic Pt incorporation into PdSn4 optimizes the electronic structure and carrier dynamics of this Dirac semimetal. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal that the resulting Pd-Sn-Pt local electronic structure redistributes charge density around Pd and Pt atoms, which facilitates C-C coupling via *OC-COH and *OC-CHOH intermediates and enhances carrier mobility by 40% versus the pristine PdSn4 single crystal. The optimized Pd0.4Pt0.6Sn4 single crystal achieves C2H4 with formation rate of 0.000328 mol g-1 h-1, product selectivity of 73.1% and electron-based selectivity of 89%. This work establishes electronic-structure-tunable Dirac semimetals as a new paradigm for multi-carbon photochemical CO2 reduction, providing a design strategy for next-generation photocatalysts.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Kangwang Wang, Jie Zhan, Jun Liu, Zaichen Xiang, Wanyi Zhang, Lingyong Zeng, Kai Yan, Yan Sun, Huixia Luo. 2026-02-20. Efficient photocatalytic CO2 Reduction to C2+ Products with Pt1-xPdxSn4 Dirac Nodal Arc Semimetal. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202518317

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

A hierarchy of thermodynamics learning frameworks for inelastic constitutive modeling

Recent advances in physics-augmented neural networks have enabled thermodynamically consistent data-driven constitutive modeling of complex inelastic materials. Most existing approaches, however, implicitly adopt a specific thermodynamic framework and embed structural assumptions such as normality, dual dissipation potentials, or other structure from manually constructed models directly into the learning architecture. Consequently, differences in predictive performance may arise not only from data or network design, but also from the underlying theoretical assumptions. In this work, we present a unified comparison of several thermodynamically consistent inelastic modeling frameworks from a machine learning perspective. We consider internal-variable formulations with dissipation potential, generalized standard materials, and metriplectic structures, and we analyze their structural assumptions, admissible dependencies, convexity requirements, and implications for dissipation and evolution. Each framework is implemented within a common neural potential architecture based on invariant representations and neural ordinary differential equations. This unified setting ensures that performance differences can be attributed to thermodynamic structure rather than architectural variation. The models are trained and evaluated on three representative inelastic datasets generated from high-fidelity representative volume element simulations: an elastoplastic alloy, a viscoelastic composite, and a rate-dependent crystal plasticity polycrystal. By isolating the role of thermodynamic structure, we assess how restrictions such as duality, normality, operator-based evolution, and convexity influence learnability, expressiveness, stability, and generalization.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Berry Curvature Driven Transport in Silicon-Compatible Altermagnetic $α$-MnTe Thin Films

Integrating spin-dependent functionality with mainstream semiconductor technology is a central goal of modern spintronics, yet most candidate materials remain incompatible with silicon-based platforms. Here, we report the direct epitaxial integration of $α$-MnTe thin films on Si(111) via molecular beam epitaxy and demonstrate a robust anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in this silicon-compatible altermagnetic system. Despite the absence of net bulk magnetization, the films exhibit a pronounced hysteretic Hall response, providing transport evidence consistent with finite Berry curvature generated by symmetry breaking in the thin-film geometry. High-resolution structural and spectroscopic characterization confirms phase-pure, epitaxial growth with hexagonal NiAs-type symmetry, while magnetotransport measurements reveal correlated hysteresis in both transverse and longitudinal channels with systematic temperature evolution. First-principles calculations reveal substantial uncompensated Berry curvature arising from the spin-split band structure, consistent with altermagnetic symmetry and the origin of the observed Hall response. These results establish MnTe/Si(111) as a silicon-compatible altermagnetic platform and chart a concrete pathway for embedding Berry-phase-driven functionalities into scalable semiconductor device architectures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

All-Optical Control of Interfacial Polarization in MoS$_2$/WSe$_2$ Heterobilayers

All-optical tuning of van der Waals heterostructures with coherent radiation offers a promising path toward ultrafast memory and optoelectronic devices. In the first-principles framework of real-time time-dependent density functional theory, we predict the induction of a persistent, long-lived out-of-plane polarization in MoS$_2$/WSe$_2$ heterobilayers, resonantly driven by intense ultrafast pulses. While weak fields preserve the intrinsic type-II band alignment, intermediate intensities trigger a four-fold enhancement of interlayer charge transfer. By analyzing the high-harmonic generation spectrum, we identify a transition from the perturbative to the strong-field regime inducing photoinduced interfacial polarity. We additionally show that lattice strain, ubiquitously present in heterobilayers, can be used as additional knob to adjust the resonant condition without compromising the permanent dipole induction. Our findings provide a theoretical blueprint for the all-optical manipulation of polar phases in low-dimensional heterostructures at the femtosecond scale.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci