Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction for Enhanced C-C Coupling

An appealing option for the conversion of solar energy to fuels is the (photo)-electrochemical reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) using water as the source of hydrogen. It has been known that polycrystalline Cu is prone to produce C1 products, mainly methane in aqueous solution. The product selectivity of such conversion can be affected by the electrolyte composition including anions and cations and catalyst structure. Nanostructuring of polycrystalline copper surfaces via electrochemical cycling in the presence of different halide anions in the electrolyte allows for a suppression of methane and an enhancement of ethylene formation. On the other hands, cations have direct influence on CO2RR in which increasing the size of mono-valent cations can increase the selectivity and activity to ethylene. In addition, controlling an atomic-level catalyst structure accelerates electrocatalytic activity and selectivity toward the formation of C-C bonds.