Silver Nanoparticle‐Embedded Zirconium‐Based Metal‐Organic Framework for Photoreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Acetic Acid in Aqueous Medium

Abstract Catalytic conversion of CO 2 into value‐added chemicals is necessary to mitigate the increasing global warming and energy‐related issues. The selective production of C2 or C2+ products by photoreduction of CO 2 is a challenging task due to the sluggish kinetics of C─C coupling. Herein, the potential of a silver nanoparticle (Ag NP) incorporated metal‐organic framework (MOF), NU‐1000 is introduced, to harvest light and ease the uphill electron transfer. The growth of silver nanoparticles on thiol‐functionalized NU‐1000 is studied using the atomic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis. The C2 product formed using Ag@NU‐1000‐SH without any sacrificial agents is acetic acid, which is confirmed by 1 H‐NMR and HRMS data. The catalyst displays a high acetate output of 293.58 µmolg −1 h −1 with a selectivity of 79.4%. The XPS and DFT calculations evidence that the presence of the charge‐polarised states in the as‐synthesized catalyst act as asymmetric centers that favor the C─C coupling reaction. The combined experimental (in situ DRIFT spectroscopic studies) and theoretical calculations reveal that the C─C coupling takes place via the coupling of COOH*intermediates.