Correlating the valence state of a Cu-based electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction to C2

Yifan Li; Wanqing Hong; Shiyi Chen; Rui Duan; Sini Chai; Wenping Du; Jian Yang; Junjie Mao

doi:10.1039/d3cc03779g

Correlating the valence state of a Cu-based electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction to C₂

Chem Commun (Camb). 2023 Sep 28;59(78):11716-11719. doi: 10.1039/d3cc03779g.

Authors

Yifan Li¹, Wanqing Hong¹, Shiyi Chen¹, Rui Duan¹, Sini Chai¹, Wenping Du¹, Jian Yang¹, Junjie Mao¹

Affiliation

¹ Key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Solids, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu, 241002, P. R. China. maochem@ahnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37702027
DOI: 10.1039/d3cc03779g

Abstract

In this study, a facile ligand-protected strategy for preparing Cu@Cu₂O and CuO nanoparticles is presented. The electrocatalyst efficacy of the CuO variant, particularly for CO₂ reduction to multi-carbon products (C₂₊), is significant, boasting faradaic efficiencies (FEs) surpassing 85% and a current density peak at 340 mA cm^-2. This exceptional performance markedly exceeds that of the Cu@Cu₂O electrocatalyst. This observed enhancement in the electrosynthesis efficiency of C₂₊ is attributed to the abundant Cu⁰ active sites, which originate from the in situ electroreduction of CuO.