Imaging electrochemically synthesized Cu2O cubes and their morphological evolution under conditions relevant to CO2 electroreduction

Rosa M. Arán-Ais, Rubén Rizo, Philipp Grosse, Gerardo Algara-Siller, Kassiogé Dembélé, Milivoj Plodinec, Thomas Lunkenbein, See Wee Chee () and Beatriz Roldan Cuenya ()
Additional contact information
Rosa M. Arán-Ais: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Rubén Rizo: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Philipp Grosse: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Gerardo Algara-Siller: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Kassiogé Dembélé: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Milivoj Plodinec: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Thomas Lunkenbein: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
See Wee Chee: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society
Beatriz Roldan Cuenya: Fritz-Haber-Institute of the Max-Planck Society

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Copper is a widely studied catalyst material for the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to valuable hydrocarbons. In particular, copper-based nanostructures expressing predominantly {100} facets have shown high selectivity toward ethylene formation, a desired reaction product. However, the stability of such tailored nanostructures under reaction conditions remains poorly understood. Here, using liquid cell transmission electron microscopy, we show the formation of cubic copper oxide particles from copper sulfate solutions during direct electrochemical synthesis and their subsequent morphological evolution in a carbon dioxide-saturated 0.1 M potassium bicarbonate solution under a reductive potential. Shape-selected synthesis of copper oxide cubes was achieved through: (1) the addition of chloride ions and (2) alternating the potentials within a narrow window where the deposited non-cubic particles dissolve, but cubic ones do not. Our results indicate that copper oxide cubes change their morphology rapidly under carbon dioxide electroreduction-relevant conditions, leading to an extensive re-structuring of the working electrode surface.

Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-17220-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-17220-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17220-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().