Nanoconfinement Engineering over Hollow Multi-Shell Structured Copper towards Efficient Electrocatalytical C-C coupling

Nanoconfinement provides a promising solution to promote electrocatalytic C-C coupling, by dramatically altering the diffusion kinetics to ensure a high local concentration of C-1 intermediates for carbon dimerization. Herein, under the guidance of finite-element method simulations results, a series of Cu2O hollow multi-shell structures (HoMSs) with tunable shell numbers were synthesized via Ostwald ripening. When applied in CO2 electroreduction (CO2RR), the in situ formed Cu HoMSs showed a positive correlation between shell numbers and selectivity for C2+ products, reaching a maximum C2+ Faradaic efficiency of 77.0 +/- 0.3 % at a conversion rate of 513.7 +/- 0.7 mA cm(-2) in a neutral electrolyte. Mechanistic studies clarified the confinement effect of HoMSs that superposition of Cu shells leads to a higher coverage of localized CO adsorbate inside the cavity for enhanced dimerization. This work provides valuable insights for the delicate design of efficient C-C coupling catalysts.

Automated summary

The research found that Cu HoMSs structure has a high selectivity for C2+ products in CO2 electroreduction, and the C2+ Faradaic efficiency increases with the increase in shell numbers. Mechanistic studies show that superposition of Cu shells in HoMSs structure can increase the coverage of CO adsorbate, promoting carbon dimerization.