Single Atom Bi Decorated Copper Alloy Enables C-C Coupling for Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 into C2+ Products

Single atom alloy (SAA) catalysts have been recently explored for promotion of various heterogeneous catalysis, but it remains unexplored for selective electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) into multi-carbon (C2+) products involving C-C coupling. Herein we report a single-atomic Bi decorated Cu alloy (denoted as BiCu-SAA) electrocatalyst that could effectively modulate selectivity of CO2 reduction into C2+ products instead of previous C-1 ones. The BiCu-SAA catalyst exhibits remarkably superior selectivity of C2+ products with optimal Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 73.4 % compared to the pure copper nanoparticle or Bi nanoparticles-decorated Cu nanocomposites, and its structure and performance can be well maintained at current density of 400 mA cm(-2) under the flow cell system. Based on our in situ characterizations and density functional theory calculations, the BiCu-SAA is found to favor the activation of CO2 and subsequent C-C coupling during the electrocatalytic reaction, as should be responsible for its extraordinary C2+ selectivity.

Automated summary

This study reports a single-atom bismuth-decorated copper alloy catalyst that can effectively modulate the selectivity of carbon dioxide reduction to multi-carbon products. The catalyst exhibits superior performance and stability, making it a promising candidate for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2.