Self-Cleaning Catalyst Electrodes for Stabilized CO₂ Reduction to Hydrocarbons

A surface-restructuring strategy is presented that involves self-cleaning Cu catalyst electrodes with unprecedented catalytic stability toward CO₂ reduction. Under the working conditions, the Pd atoms pre-deposited on Cu surface induce continuous morphological and compositional restructuring of the Cu surface, which constantly refreshes the catalyst surface and thus maintains the catalytic properties for CO₂ reduction to hydrocarbons. The Pd-decorated Cu electrode can catalyze CO₂ reduction with relatively stable selectivity and current density for up to 16 h, which is one of the best catalytic durability performances among all Cu electrocatalysts for effective CO₂ conversion to hydrocarbons. The generality of this approach of utilizing foreign metal atoms to induce surface restructuring toward stabilizing Cu catalyst electrodes against deactivation by carbonaceous species accumulation in CO₂ reduction is further demonstrated by replacing Pd with Rh.