In situ copper faceting enables efficient CO2/CO electrolysis

Kaili Yao, Jun Li (), Adnan Ozden, Haibin Wang, Ning Sun, Pengyu Liu, Wen Zhong, Wei Zhou, Jieshu Zhou, Xi Wang, Hanqi Liu, Yongchang Liu, Songhua Chen, Yongfeng Hu, Ziyun Wang, David Sinton () and Hongyan Liang ()
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Kaili Yao: Tianjin University
Jun Li: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Adnan Ozden: University of Toronto
Haibin Wang: Tianjin University
Ning Sun: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Pengyu Liu: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Wen Zhong: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Wei Zhou: Tianjin University
Jieshu Zhou: Tianjin University
Xi Wang: Tianjin University
Hanqi Liu: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Yongchang Liu: Tianjin University
Songhua Chen: Longyan University
Yongfeng Hu: Sinopec Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemical Technology
Ziyun Wang: The University of Auckland
David Sinton: University of Toronto
Hongyan Liang: Tianjin University

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The copper (Cu)-catalyzed electrochemical CO2 reduction provides a route for the synthesis of multicarbon (C2+) products. However, the thermodynamically favorable Cu surface (i.e. Cu(111)) energetically favors single-carbon production, leading to low energy efficiency and low production rates for C2+ products. Here we introduce in situ copper faceting from electrochemical reduction to enable preferential exposure of Cu(100) facets. During the precatalyst evolution, a phosphate ligand slows the reduction of Cu and assists the generation and co-adsorption of CO and hydroxide ions, steering the surface reconstruction to Cu (100). The resulting Cu catalyst enables current densities of > 500 mA cm−2 and Faradaic efficiencies of >83% towards C2+ products from both CO2 reduction and CO reduction. When run at 500 mA cm−2 for 150 hours, the catalyst maintains a 37% full-cell energy efficiency and a 95% single-pass carbon efficiency throughout.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45538-y

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