Steering CO₂ electroreduction pathway toward ethanol via surface-bounded hydroxyl species-induced noncovalent interaction.

ABSTRACT: Selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂RR) into ethanol at an industrially relevant current density is highly desired. However, it is challenging because the competing ethylene production pathway is generally more thermodynamically favored. Herein, we achieve a selective and productive ethanol production over a porous CuO catalyst that presents a high ethanol Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 44.1 ± 1.0% and an ethanol-to-ethylene ratio of 1.2 at a large ethanol partial current density of 501.0 ± 15.0 mA cm^-2, in addition to an extraordinary FE of 90.6 ± 3.4% for multicarbon products. Intriguingly, we found a volcano-shaped relationship between ethanol selectivity and nanocavity size of porous CuO catalyst in the range of 0 to 20 nm. Mechanistic studies indicate t

SUBMITTER: Zhang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10089218 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature