Carbon dioxide electroreduction to C2 products over copper-cuprous oxide derived from electrosynthesized copper complex

Qinggong Zhu, Xiaofu Sun, Dexin Yang, Jun Ma (), Xinchen Kang, Lirong Zheng, Jing Zhang, Zhonghua Wu and Buxing Han ()
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Qinggong Zhu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xiaofu Sun: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Dexin Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jun Ma: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Xinchen Kang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Lirong Zheng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jing Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zhonghua Wu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Buxing Han: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Efficient electroreduction of carbon dioxide to multicarbon products in aqueous solution is of great importance and challenging. Unfortunately, the low efficiency of the production of C2 products limits implementation at scale. Here, we report reduction of carbon dioxide to C2 products (acetic acid and ethanol) over a 3D dendritic copper-cuprous oxide composite fabricated by in situ reduction of an electrodeposited copper complex. In potassium chloride aqueous electrolyte, the applied potential was as low as −0.4 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode, the overpotential is only 0.53 V (for acetic acid) and 0.48 V (for ethanol) with high C2 Faradaic efficiency of 80% and a current density of 11.5 mA cm−2. The outstanding performance of the electrode for producing the C2 products results mainly from near zero contacting resistance between the electrocatalysts and copper substrate, abundant exposed active sites in the 3D dendritic structure and suitable copper(I)/copper(0) ratio of the electrocatalysts.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11599-7

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