Controlled Synthesis of EDTA-Modified Porous Hollow Copper Microspheres for High-Efficiency Conversion of CO2 to Multicarbon Products

Juan Liu; Jiaju Fu; Yang Zhou; Wenlei Zhu; Li-Ping Jiang; Yuehe Lin

doi:10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00639

Controlled Synthesis of EDTA-Modified Porous Hollow Copper Microspheres for High-Efficiency Conversion of CO₂ to Multicarbon Products

Nano Lett. 2020 Jul 8;20(7):4823-4828. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00639. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Authors

Juan Liu¹, Jiaju Fu¹, Yang Zhou², Wenlei Zhu², Li-Ping Jiang¹, Yuehe Lin²

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China.
² School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman WA99164, United States.

PMID: 32496803
DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c00639

Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ into value-added products is an effective approach to relieve environmental and energetic issues. Herein, EDTA anion-modified porous hollow copper microspheres (H-Cu MPs) were constructed by EDTA-2Na-assisted electrodeposition. The faradic efficiency (FE) of ethylene doubled from 23.3% to 50.1% at -0.82 V vs RHE in nearly neutral 0.1 M KHCO₃ solution, one of the highest values among copper-based electrodeposited catalysts. Apart from the favorable influence from morphology regulated by EDTA-2Na, theoretical calculations revealed that the adsorbed EDTA anions were able to create a local charged copper surface to stabilize the transition state and dimer and to assist in the stabilization by interacting with OCCO adsorbate synergistically, which contributed to the outstanding catalytic performance together.

Keywords: CO2 reduction; C−C coupling; EDTA; electrocatalysis; electrodeposition; hollow porous copper microspheres.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't