Pulsed Electrochemical Carbon Monoxide Reduction on Oxide-Derived Copper Catalyst

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Efficient electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) is crucial for sustainable chemical production and greenhouse gas mitigation.
• While CO2 electroreduction to carbon monoxide (CO) is efficient, further reduction of CO to valuable products remains challenging.
• Oxide-derived copper catalysts show potential for CO electroreduction but lack high selectivity for specific products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the pulsed-bias electroreduction of carbon monoxide (CO) on oxide-derived copper catalysts.
• To enhance selectivity towards specific single-carbon products.
• To tune electrochemical selectivity without altering the catalyst material.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a pulsed-bias technique for the electroreduction of carbon monoxide (CO).
• Employed oxide-derived copper as the electrocatalyst.
• Investigated the effect of varying pulse frequencies and pulse times (<1 s).

Main Results:

• Achieved increased selectivity for single-carbon products, specifically formate and methane.
• Observed enhanced selectivity at higher pulse frequencies.
• Reported an increased fraction of charge directed towards CO reduction compared to hydrogen evolution.

Conclusions:

• Pulsed-bias electroreduction is an effective strategy for improving selectivity in CO electroreduction.
• Optimizing pulse parameters, such as frequency, can steer product distribution towards desired single-carbon compounds.
• This technique offers a pathway to enhance the efficiency of converting CO into valuable chemicals using copper-based catalysts.