Surface hydroxide promotes CO2 electrolysis to ethylene in acidic conditions

Abstract Performing CO 2 reduction in acidic conditions enables high single-pass CO 2 conversion efficiency. However, a faster kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction compared to CO 2 reduction limits the selectivity toward multicarbon products. Prior studies have shown that adsorbed hydroxide on the Cu surface promotes CO 2 reduction in neutral and alkaline conditions. We posited that limited adsorbed hydroxide species in acidic CO 2 reduction could contribute to a low selectivity to multicarbon products. Here we report an electrodeposited Cu catalyst that suppresses hydrogen formation and promotes selective CO 2 reduction in acidic conditions. Using in situ time-resolved Raman spectroscopy, we show that…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• CL
  Canadian Light Source
• OR
  Ontario Research Foundation
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

  Award: P500PN_202906
• CS
  China Scholarship Council
• T
  Total
• SB
  Shenzhen Bay Laboratory
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
• AR
  Australian Research Council

  Award: DE200100477
• NK
  National Key Research and Development Program of China

  Award: 2021YFC2102800