Polymer Modification Strategy to Modulate Reaction Microenvironment for Enhanced CO2 Electroreduction to Ethylene

Ting Deng; Shuaiqiang Jia; Chunjun Chen; Jiapeng Jiao; Xiao Chen; Cheng Xue; Wei Xia; Xueqing Xing; Qinggong Zhu; Haihong Wu; Mingyuan He; Buxing Han

doi:10.1002/anie.202313796

Polymer Modification Strategy to Modulate Reaction Microenvironment for Enhanced CO₂ Electroreduction to Ethylene

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 Jan 8;63(2):e202313796. doi: 10.1002/anie.202313796. Epub 2023 Dec 7.

Authors

Ting Deng^{1

2}, Shuaiqiang Jia^{1

2}, Chunjun Chen^{1

2}, Jiapeng Jiao^{1

2}, Xiao Chen^{1

2}, Cheng Xue^{1

2}, Wei Xia^{1

2}, Xueqing Xing³, Qinggong Zhu⁴, Haihong Wu^{1

2}, Mingyuan He^{1

2}, Buxing Han^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200062, China.
² Institute of Eco-Chongming, 20 Cuiniao Road, Chenjia Town, Chongming District, Shanghai, 202162, China.
³ Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
⁴ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface and Thermodynamics, CAS Research/Education Center for Excellence in Molecular Sciences, Center for carbon neutral chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China.

PMID: 38015565
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202313796

Abstract

Modulation of the microenvironment on the electrode surface is one of the effective means to improve the efficiency of electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction (eCO₂ RR). To achieve high conversion rates, the phase boundary at the electrode surface should be finely controlled to overcome the limitation of CO₂ solubility in the aqueous electrolyte. Herein, we developed a simple and efficient method to structure electrocatalyst with a superhydrophobic surface microenvironment by one-step co-electrodeposition of Cu and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on carbon paper. The super-hydrophobic Cu-based electrode displayed a high ethylene (C₂ H₄ ) selectivity with a Faraday efficiency (FE) of 67.3 % at -1.25 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in an H-type cell, which is 2.5 times higher than a regular Cu electrode without PTFE. By using PTFE as a surface modifier, the activity of eCO₂ RR is enhanced and water (proton) adsorption is inhibited. This strategy has the potential to be applied to other gas-conversion electrocatalysts.

Keywords: CO2 Reduction Reaction; Ethylene; Polymer Modification; Superhydrophobic Surface; “Gas-Liquid-Solid” Interface.

Abstract

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