Electrochemical CO2 reduction to ethylene by ultrathin CuO nanoplate arrays

Abstract Electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to multi-carbon fuels and chemical feedstocks is an appealing approach to mitigate excessive CO 2 emissions. However, the reported catalysts always show either a low Faradaic efficiency of the C 2+ product or poor long-term stability. Herein, we report a facile and scalable anodic corrosion method to synthesize oxygen-rich ultrathin CuO nanoplate arrays, which form Cu/Cu 2 O heterogeneous interfaces through self-evolution during electrocatalysis. The catalyst exhibits a high C 2 H 4 Faradaic efficiency of 84.5%, stable electrolysis for ~55 h in a flow cell using a neutral KCl electrolyte, and a full-cell ethylene energy efficiency of 27.6% at 200 mA cm −2 in a…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 51872012, B17002, 2018YFA0306900
• HE
  Higher Education Discipline Innovation Project

  Awards: 51872012, B17002, 2018YFA0306900
• FR
  Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities

  Awards: 2018YFA0306900, 51872012, B17002