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The efficient ethanol electrosynthesis from CO2 is challenging with low selectivity at high CO2 electrolysis rates, due to the competition with H2 and other reduction products. Copper‐based bimetallic electrocatalysts are potential candidates for the CO2‐to‐ethanol conversion, but the secondary metal has mainly been focused on active components (such as Ag, Sn) for CO2 electroreduction, which also promote selectivity of ethylene or other reduction products rather than ethanol. Limited attention has been given to alkali‐earth metals due to their inherently active chemical property. Herein, we rationally synthesized a (111) facet‐oriented nano Cu2Mg (designated as Cu2Mg(111)) intermetallic compound with high‐density ordered Cu3‐Mg sites. The in situ Raman spectroscopy and density function theory calculations revealed that the Cu3−δ $_{^{\rm{{\rm \delta} }} }$ −‐Mg−δ $_{^{\rm{{\rm \delta} }} }$ + active sites allowed to increase *CO surface coverage, decrease reaction energy for *CO−CO coupling, and stabilize *CHCHOH intermediates, thus promoting the ethanol formation pathway. The Cu2Mg(111) catalyst exhibited a high FEC2H5OH of 76.2±4.8 % at 600 mA⋅cm−2, and a peak value of |jC2H5OH| of 720±34 mA⋅cm−2, almost 4 times of that using conventional Cu2Mg with (311) facets, comparable to the best reported values for the CO2‐to‐ethanol electroreduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide solid electrolytes (SEs) have attracted significant attention due to their competitive ionic conductivity and good electrochemical stability. Among typical halide SEs (chlorides, bromides, and iodides), substantial efforts have been dedicated to chlorides or bromides, with iodide SEs receiving less attention. Nevertheless, compared with chlorides or bromides, iodides have both a softer Li sublattice and lower reduction limit, which enable iodides to possess potentially high ionic conductivity and intrinsic anti‐reduction stability, respectively. Herein, we report a new series of iodide SEs: LixYI3+x (x=2, 3, 4, or 9). Through synchrotron X‐ray/neutron diffraction characterizations and theoretical calculations, we revealed that the LixYI3+x SEs belong to the high‐symmetry cubic structure, and can accommodate abundant vacancies. By manipulating the defects in the iodide structure, balanced Li‐ion concentration and generated vacancies enables an optimized ionic conductivity of 1.04 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 25 °C for Li4YI7. Additionally, the promising Li‐metal compatibility of Li4YI7 is demonstrated via electrochemical characterizations (particularly all‐solid‐state Li‐S batteries) combined with interface molecular dynamics simulations. Our study on iodide SEs provides deep insights into the relation between high‐symmetry halide structures and ionic conduction, which can inspire future efforts to revitalize halide SEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition featured a synchrotron research symposium that showcased the diversity of the field. The symposium included 13 distinguished invited speakers and 22 contributing talks and posters from researchers around the world. Topics covered a wide range of research fields, including sustainable energy, catalysis, biomedicine, and the use of synchrotron techniques in cultural heritage. The symposium was organized by a team of researchers from Western University and the Canadian Light Source, and it highlighted the importance of international collaboration and the involvement of graduate students in synchrotron research. The event marked a milestone in the field and demonstrated the ongoing commitment to advancing synchrotron research through future events and workshops. [Extracted from the article]

Halide solid electrolytes (SEs) have attracted significant attention due to their competitive ionic conductivity and good electrochemical stability. Among typical halide SEs (chlorides, bromides, and iodides), substantial efforts have been dedicated to chlorides or bromides, with iodide SEs receiving less attention. Nevertheless, compared with chlorides or bromides, iodides have both a softer Li sublattice and lower reduction limit, which enable iodides to possess potentially high ionic conductivity and intrinsic anti-reduction stability, respectively. Herein, we report a new series of iodide SEs: Li x YI 3+x (x=2, 3, 4, or 9). Through synchrotron X-ray/neutron diffraction characterizations and theoretical calculations, we revealed that the Li x YI 3+x SEs belong to the high-symmetry cubic structure, and can accommodate abundant vacancies. By manipulating the defects in the iodide structure, balanced Li-ion concentration and generated vacancies enables an optimized ionic conductivity of 1.04 × 10 -3  S cm -1 at 25 °C for Li 4 YI 7 . Additionally, the promising Li-metal compatibility of Li 4 YI 7 is demonstrated via electrochemical characterizations (particularly all-solid-state Li-S batteries) combined with interface molecular dynamics simulations. Our study on iodide SEs provides deep insights into the relation between high-symmetry halide structures and ionic conduction, which can inspire future efforts to revitalize halide SEs., (© 2024 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The efficient ethanol electrosynthesis from CO 2 is challenging with low selectivity at high CO 2 electrolysis rates, due to the competition with H 2 and other reduction products. Copper-based bimetallic electrocatalysts are potential candidates for the CO 2 -to-ethanol conversion, but the secondary metal has mainly been focused on active components (such as Ag, Sn) for CO 2 electroreduction, which also promote selectivity of ethylene or other reduction products rather than ethanol. Limited attention has been given to alkali-earth metals due to their inherently active chemical property. Herein, we rationally synthesized a (111) facet-oriented nano Cu 2 Mg (designated as Cu 2 Mg(111)) intermetallic compound with high-density ordered Cu 3 -Mg sites. The in situ Raman spectroscopy and density function theory calculations revealed that the Cu 3 - δ ${^{\rm{{\rm \delta} }} }$ - -Mg - δ ${^{\rm{{\rm \delta} }} }$ + active sites allowed to increase *CO surface coverage, decrease reaction energy for *CO-CO coupling, and stabilize *CHCHOH intermediates, thus promoting the ethanol formation pathway. The Cu 2 Mg(111) catalyst exhibited a high FE C2H5OH of 76.2±4.8 % at 600 mA⋅cm -2 , and a peak value of |j C2H5OH | of 720±34 mA⋅cm -2 , almost 4 times of that using conventional Cu 2 Mg with (311) facets, comparable to the best reported values for the CO 2 -to-ethanol electroreduction., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)