Direct OC-CHO coupling towards highly C2+ products selective electroreduction over stable Cu0/Cu2+ interface

Electroreduction of CO2 to valuable multicarbon (C2+) products is a highly attractive way to utilize and divert emitted CO2. However, a major fraction of C2+ selectivity is confined to less than 90% by the difficulty of coupling C-C bonds efficiently. Herein, we identify the stable Cu-0/Cu2+ interfaces derived from copper phosphate-based (CuPO) electrocatalysts, which can facilitate C2+ production with a low-energy pathway of OC-CHO coupling verified by in situ spectra studies and theoretical calculations. The CuPO precatalyst shows a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 69.7% towards C2H4 in an H-cell, and exhibits a significant FEC2+ of 90.9% under industrially relevant current density (j = -350 mA cm(-2)) in a flow cell configuration. The stable Cu-0/Cu2+ interface breaks new ground for the structural design of electrocatalysts and the construction of synergistic active sites to improve the activity and selectivity of valuable C2+ products.

Automated summary

This paper presents the discovery of a stable Cu-0/Cu2+ interface derived from copper phosphate-based electrocatalysts, which exhibits high selectivity towards C2+ products. This interface facilitates the low-energy pathway of OC-CHO coupling, leading to improved selectivity and Faradaic efficiency of C2+ products.