Journal
ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES
Volume 12, Issue 41, Pages 45929-45935Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c10591
Keywords
carbon aerogels; electrode-electrolyte interface; electrochemical corrosion; electrocatalysis; morphology
Funding
- Department of Chemistry
- Johns Hopkins University
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Selectivity for C-C coupled products remains a major challenge for electrochemical CO2 reduction. Herein, we report a facile method by modifying a Cu foil surface with a layer of porous carbon. The structure of carbon has a major influence on C-1 and C-2,C-3 product selectivity. A carbon aerogel modifier leads to higher C-2,C-3 product formation than that of a carbon black modifier, demonstrating the non-innocent role of carbon materials. In both cases, major surface reconstruction on the Cu foil-such as pitting and particle formation-is observed during electrocatalysis. In addition, the restructured Cu surface shows distinctly lower activity toward CO2 reduction when the carbon modifier is removed. This is likely due to the fact that the carbon modifiers influence the product distribution by (i) modulating the local pH and CO2 concentration by serving as a highly porous and hydrophobic barrier, and (ii) restructuring the metal surface that generates more active sites. Our findings illustrate that the carbon in carbon-based catalysts can have an disproportionate role in directing product formation in electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available