One-Pot Soft-Template Synthesis of Nanostructured Copper-Supported Mesoporous Carbon FDU-15 Electrocatalysts for...

Copper-supported mesoporous carbon nanocatalysts (Cu/FDU-15) were synthesized using an easy and convenient one-pot soft-template method for low-overvoltage CO₂ electroreduction. TEM imaging revealed the presence of large Cu nanoparticles (diameter 140 nm) with Cu₂ O nanoparticles (16 nm) as an additional phase. From the electron tomography observations, we found that the copper particles were placed inside and on the exterior surface of the porous FDU-15 support, providing an accessible surface for electrocatalytic reactions. CO₂ electrolyses showed that the mesostructured Cu/FDU-15-350 cathode materials were active towards CO₂ conversion to formic acid with 22 % Faradaic efficiency at a remarkably low overpotential of 290 mV, hydrogen being the only side-product. The catalyst's activity correlates to the calculated metallic surface area, as determined from a geometrical model, confirming that the mesoporous channels act as a diffusion path for the CO₂ molecule, and that the whole Cu surface is accessible to CO₂ , even if particles are entrapped in the carbon matrix.