{"record":{"author":{"account_ref":null,"orcid":null},"builds_on":[],"content_schema":"pubphys.content.revision/1","content_sha256":"dea82ca3a81332463736f8a1931da9347bb574e4e235bf59a8e239e0b46a6033","created":"2026-10-15T23:43:22Z","files":[],"origin":{"assisted_by":[],"kind":"seed"},"parents":["286fc96215ae2713eafcdda3b71aa7484b9baf085e8c3e22ddc419707ae185a1","ce59fb6cd812fc05906d0c60a71c75ea22bc686bcf38e7c3ef7010834d98ee7b"],"salt":"0fab5be009e4887d5b1c5456a0815052fa4e0183b47835ac9dfca7821ce827b0","schema":"pubphys.record/2","site":"pubphys.com","target":null,"type":"revision"},"content":{"answer_type":"mechanism","assisted_by":[],"external_id":"chem.electrode-interfaces.cation-effect-co2","kind":"phenomenon","literature_status":"contested","n":"2","parents":[],"plain":"On copper and gold electrodes, $\\mathrm{CO_2}$ reduction barely works without metal cations in the solution, and larger cations such as cesium work better than lithium. Why the cation matters so much is unsettled.","posed_since":"","precise":"For $\\mathrm{CO_2}$ reduction on Cu and Au electrodes in aqueous MHCO3 ($M = \\mathrm{Li}, \\mathrm{Na}, \\mathrm{K}, \\mathrm{Cs}$), identify the mechanism by which the cation controls the rate of the first $\\mathrm{CO_2}$ activation step and the product selectivity: interfacial field stabilization of adsorbed $\\mathrm{CO2}-$, direct coordination, local buffering of pH, or modification of the hydrogen-bond network. An answer is a model predicting partial current densities versus cation identity and concentration.","problem_ref":"286fc96215ae2713eafcdda3b71aa7484b9baf085e8c3e22ddc419707ae185a1","references":"","settled_by":"Spectroscopic detection of cation-adsorbate interactions combined with explicit-cation constant-potential simulations that reproduce the measured trends.","status_note":"","title":"Origin of alkali cation effects in electrochemical $\\mathrm{CO_2}$ reduction","topic_ref":null},"attested":{"attestation":{"batch":null,"client_id":null,"id_token_sha256":null,"kind":"platform"},"record_hash":"90f2cb50ccb9ac31afdac90eb334036f208a05b2214e42c52bbda8bd0a89d6e0","schema":"pubphys.attested/1"},"envelope":{"attested_hash":"cc44e63f8cd3f7ac61e8ccf26a70fc05c862667856c7d36af80a77eb43b323ae","platform_signature":{"key_id":"c6afc19b31429869751f06879c75cd64ea92654423d15b44be775bf1310a60da","sig":"-UxxBLZ6J5E1jtVncU7ccWliLyJKBYNRNrRbZhbYXPBKC6_hGjWydJB-4sONAccCl83Y4On9xsd98rftjokBCA"},"schema":"pubphys.envelope/1"},"record_hash":"90f2cb50ccb9ac31afdac90eb334036f208a05b2214e42c52bbda8bd0a89d6e0","leaf_index":2662}