Enriching the Local Concentration of CO Intermediates on Cu Cavities for the Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to C2+Products

The electrochemical carbon-dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) to high-value multi-carbon (C2+) chemicals provides a hopeful approach to store renewable energy and close the carbon cycle. Although copper-based catalysts with a porous architecture are considered potential electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to C2+ chemicals, challenges remain in achieving high selectivity and partial current density simultaneously for practical application. Here, the porous Cu catalysts with a cavity structure by in situ electrochemical-reducing Cu2O cavities are developed for high-performance conversion of CO2 to C2+ fuels. The as-described catalysts exhibit a high C2+ Faradaic efficiency and partial current density of 75.6 +/- 1.8% and 605 +/- 14 mA cm-2, respectively, at a low applied potential (-0.59 V vs RHE) in a microfluidic flow cell. Furthermore, in situ Raman tests and finite element simulation indicated that the cavity structure can enrich the local concentration of CO intermediates, thus promoting the C-C coupling process. More importantly, the C-C coupling should be major through the *CO-*CHO pathway as demonstrated by the electrochemical Raman spectra and density functional theory calculations. This work can provide ideas and insights into designing high-performance electrocatalysts for producing C2+ compounds and highlight the important effect of in situ characterization for uncovering the reaction mechanism.

Automated summary

Porous Cu catalysts with a cavity structure were developed for the efficient conversion of CO2 to C2+ fuels. The catalysts exhibited high C2+ Faradaic efficiency and partial current density at a low applied potential in a microfluidic flow cell. In situ Raman tests and finite element simulation indicated that the cavity structure promoted the C-C coupling process by enriching the local concentration of CO intermediates.