Electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> reduction to ethylene by ultrathin CuO nanoplate arrays.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35387994.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-29428-9 and PMC identifier 8986799.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Electrochemical reduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to multi-carbon fuels and chemical feedstocks is an appealing approach to mitigate excessive CO<sub>2</sub> emissions. However, the reported catalysts always show either a low Faradaic efficiency of the C<sub>2+</sub> product or poor long-term stability. Herein, we report a facile and scalable anodic corrosion method to synthesize oxygen-rich ultrathin CuO nanoplate arrays, which form Cu/Cu<sub>2</sub>O heterogeneous interfaces through self-evolution during electrocatalysis. The catalyst exhibits a high C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub> Faradaic efficiency of 84.5%, stable electrolysis for ~55 h in a flow cell using a neutral KCl electrolyte, and a full-cell ethylene energy efficiency of 27.6% at 200 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> in a membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer. Mechanism analyses reveal that the stable nanostructures, stable Cu/Cu<sub>2</sub>O interfaces, and enhanced adsorption of the *OCCOH intermediate preserve selective and prolonged C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub> production. The robust and scalable produced catalyst coupled with mild electrolytic conditions facilitates the practical application of electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> reduction.