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Catalytic conversion of CO2 to produce fuels and chemicals is of great importance, and the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR) is considered one of the most attractive pathways. Multi-carbon (C2+) products are more desirable in many cases. To date, Cu-based catalysts, especially Cu+ sites, have been found to be the most efficient for the production of C2+ products. However, the retention of Cu+ sites at high cathodic potentials in the eCO2RR remains a great challenge. In this study, we designed and synthesized CuAl-oxide-derived (CuxAly-OD, x and y are the mass percentages of Cu and Al) catalysts for the eCO2RR to C2+ products. During the eCO2RR process, the predominant Cu species changed to Cu+, and the resulting electrocatalyst showed a high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 81.6% for C2+ products in alkaline aqueous solutions. Experimental studies showed that the presence of a stable amorphous Al2O3 phase stabilized the Cu+ sites by oxidation state control, leading to high selectivity and activity for the production of C2+ products. This work provides a strategy for improving the stability of Cu+ in the catalyst to enhance the performance of the eCO2RR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 by renewable electricity offers a promising way to settle excessive greenhouse gases and achieve carbon neutrality under a mild environment. Cu-based catalysts have a unique catalytic activity towards multicarbon (C2+) products in the CO2 electroreduction reaction and are widely studied to promote the corresponding selectivity and activity. Here we report a F-doped Cu (F–Cu) catalyst to improve C2+ products in CO2 electroreduction. A high C2+ product (mainly ethylene and ethanol) faradaic efficiency of 70.4% was achieved on the F–Cu catalyst with a high current density (above 400 mA cm−2) in the flow-cell system. The in situ surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy results and electrochemical performance analysis demonstrated that CO2 could be reduced into CO at low potentials and the adsorption of CO could be strengthened on F–Cu, which is beneficial to the subsequent C–C coupling step and formation of the C2+ products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cuprous oxide catalysts have attracted much attention because they exhibited high selectivity of C2+ products in CO2 electroreduction, but the effect of the structure of catalysts on the reaction needs to be studied further. Herein, we studied the effect of the coordination number (CN) of Cu–Cu and Cu–O in Cu2O on the catalytic performance of CO2 electrocatalytic reduction to C2H4. It was demonstrated that Cu–Cu CN and Cu–O CN, which could be tuned by changing the crystal surface and size of Cu2O, influenced the current density and faradaic efficiency (FE) of C2H4 significantly. At suitable CNs, the FE of C2H4 could reach 50.6% with a current density of 24.5 mA cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cu(OH)2/CuO nanocomposite-derived Cu2O/Cu was highly efficient for CO2 electroreduction to C2 products. The highest faradaic efficiency and current density could reach 64.5% and 26.2 mA cm−2, respectively. By changing the calcination time, moderate grain boundary density and the Cu+/Cu0 ratio in catalysts can be controlled, leading to a large number of active sites and low interfacial charge transfer resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bi2WO6 nanosheets with plentiful oxygen vacancies were synthesised, and were highly efficient for the electroredution of CO2 to CO. The faradaic efficiency of CO could reach 91% with a high current density of 43 mA cm−2 at low potentials. The oxygen vacancies could enhance the reaction effectively by improving the adsorption and activation of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B-Doped oxide-derived-Cu is a highly efficient electrocatalyst for transformation of CO2 to C2 products. The faradaic efficiency of C2 products could reach 48.2%, with a high current density of 33.4 mA cm−2 at low potentials in 0.1 M KHCO3 electrolyte. The excellent performance of the catalyst is mainly attributed to Cu+ species stabilized by the introduction of B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a route to prepare nanoporous Cu/Ni oxide composites. It was discovered that the Cu/Ni oxide composites were very efficient electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to formate in aqueous electrolytes. The excellent performance resulted mainly from the porous structure, synergistic effect of the two oxides, and low charge transfer resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]