CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis to multi-carbon products in strong acid at ampere-current levels on La-Cu spheres with channels.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38844773.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-49308-8 and PMC identifier 11156665.
- 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
Achieving satisfactory multi-carbon (C2+) products selectivity and current density under acidic condition is a key issue for practical application of electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), but is challenging. Herein, we demonstrate that combining microenvironment modulation by porous channel structure and intrinsic catalytic activity enhancement via doping effect could promote efficient CO2RR toward C2+ products in acidic electrolyte (pH ≤ 1). The La-doped Cu hollow sphere with channels exhibits a C2+ products Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 86.2% with a partial current density of -775.8 mA cm-2. CO2 single-pass conversion efficiency for C2+ products can reach 52.8% at -900 mA cm-2. Moreover, the catalyst still maintains a high C2+ FE of 81.3% at -1 A cm-2. The channel structure plays a crucial role in accumulating K+ and OH- species near the catalyst surface and within the channels, which effectively suppresses the undesired hydrogen evolution and promotes C-C coupling. Additionally, the La doping enhances the generation of *CO intermediate, and also facilitates C2+ products formation.