Manipulating the Oxidation State of Cuxo Catalysts to Optimize the Selectivity of Gaseous Products in Electrochemical Co2 Reduction

Abstract

Copper-based (Cu-based) catalysts can efficiently convert carbon dioxide to multicarbon products by electrochemical reduction. In this paper, the electrocatalyst with the coexistence of three valence states of Cu(0)-Cu(I)-Cu(II) was successfully prepared by adjusting the experimental conditions. The catalyst is derived from Cu/Cu2O, supported on carbon cloth, and exhibited excellent CO2 reduction performance. For carbonaceous gaseous products, the faradaic efficiencies of the catalysts consisting of Cu(0)-Cu(I)-Cu(II) were 35.45±3.40% at -1.36 V vs. RHE, of which 23.85±1.18% for C2H4. And the synergistic effect of Cu(0)-Cu(I)-Cu(II) significantly improved the selectivity of the catalyst to C2H4. This paper provided an efficient method to rationally tune the valence state of Cu-based catalysts to improve the CO2 reduction performance.

Keywords: Electrochemical carbon dioxide, Cu-based catalysts, Valence regulation, Synergistic effect, Cu(0)-Cu(I)-Cu(II)