Morphology and mechanism of highly selective Cu(II) oxide nanosheet catalysts for carbon dioxide electroreduction.

ABSTRACT: Cu oxides catalyze the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to hydrocarbons and oxygenates with favorable selectivity. Among them, the shape-controlled Cu oxide cubes have been most widely studied. In contrast, we report on novel 2-dimensional (2D) Cu(II) oxide nanosheet (CuO NS) catalysts with high C₂₊ products, selectivities (> 400?mA?cm^-2) in gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) at industrially relevant currents and neutral pH. Under applied bias, the (001)-orientated CuO NS slowly evolve into highly branched, metallic Cu⁰ dendrites that appear as a general dominant morphology under electrolyte flow conditions, as attested by operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy and in situ electrochemical transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Millisecond-resolved differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) track a previously unavailable set of product onset potentials. While the close mechanistic relation between CO and C₂H₄ was thereby confirmed, the DEMS data help uncover an unexpected mechanistic link between CH₄ and ethanol. We demonstrate evidence that adsorbed methyl species, *CH₃, serve as common intermediates of both CH₃H and CH₃CH₂OH and possibly of other CH₃-R products via a previously overlooked pathway at (110) steps adjacent to (100) terraces at larger overpotentials. Our mechanistic conclusions challenge and refine our current mechanistic understanding of the CO₂ electrolysis on Cu catalysts.

SUBMITTER: Wang X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7862240 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature