Journal
NATURE CATALYSIS
Volume 1, Issue 12, Pages 946-951Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41929-018-0168-4
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Ontario Research Fund Research-Excellence Program
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
- University of Toronto Connaught grant
- US DOE [DE-AC02-06CH11357]
- Canadian Light Source
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21431006]
- Foundation for Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [21521001]
- CIFAR Bio-Inspired Solar Energy program
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The electrosynthesis of higher-order alcohols from carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide addresses the need for the long-term storage of renewable electricity; unfortunately, the present-day performance remains below what is needed for practical applications. Here we report a catalyst design strategy that promotes C3 formation via the nanoconfinement of C2 intermediates, and thereby promotes C2:C1 coupling inside a reactive nanocavity. We first employed finite-element method simulations to assess the potential for the retention and binding of C2 intermediates as a function of cavity structure. We then developed a method of synthesizing open Cu nanocavity structures with a tunable geometry via the electroreduction of Cu2O cavities formed through acidic etching. The nanocavities showed a morphology-driven shift in selectivity from C2 to C3 products during the carbon monoxide electroreduction, to reach a propanol Faradaic efficiency of 21 +/- 1% at a conversion rate of 7.8 +/- 0.5 mA cm(-2) at -0.56 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode.
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