Crystal facet effect induced by different pretreatment of Cu2O nanowire electrode for enhanced electrochemical CO2 reduction to C2+ products

Electrocatalytic CO2 conversion has been considered as a promising way to recycle CO2 and produce sustainable fuels and chemicals. However, the efficient and highly selective electrochemical reduction of CO2 directly into multi-carbon (C2+) products remains a great challenge. Herein, we synthesized three type catalysts with different morphologies based on Cu2O nanowires, and studied their morphology and crystal facet reconstruction during the pre-reduction process. Benefiting from abundant exposure of Cu (100) crystal facet, the nanosheet structure derived Cu catalyst showed a high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 67.5% for C2+ products. Additionally, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction studies were carried out on Cu(100), Cu(110), and Cu(111) single crystal electrodes, which verified that Cu(100) crystal facets are favorable for the C2+ products in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. Our work showed that catalysts would reconstruct during the CO2 reduction process and the importance in morphology and crystal facet control to obtain desired products. (C) 2022, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study investigates the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction process and the importance of morphology and crystal facet control in obtaining desired products. Cu catalysts derived from Cu2O nanowires are shown to exhibit high efficiency for C2+ products, particularly those with Cu(100) crystal facets.