Mesoporous Cu₂O microspheres for highly efficient C₂ chemicals production from CO₂ electroreduction

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Carbon dioxide electroreduction reaction (CO2ER) offers a sustainable pathway for producing C2 chemicals, addressing environmental and energy concerns.
• Developing efficient electrocatalysts is crucial for enhancing CO2ER performance and selectivity towards C2 products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate mesoporous Cu2O microspheres with low crystallinity for improved CO2 electroreduction to C2 chemicals.
• To investigate the role of mesoporosity, grain boundaries, and defects in facilitating CO2ER.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of mesoporous Cu2O microspheres (approx. 700 nm diameter) with reduced crystallinity.
• Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction in H-cell and flow cell configurations.
• In situ Raman and FT-IR spectroscopy to analyze reaction intermediates and catalyst surface.

Main Results:

• Mesoporous Cu2O microspheres exhibited enhanced surface area, grain boundaries, and defects compared to bulk Cu2O.
• High Faraday efficiency (FE) for C2 products: 82.6% in H-cell and 78.5% in flow cell.
• Abundant *CO intermediates observed on the mesoporous Cu2O surface, promoting C-C coupling and stabilizing Cu oxidation states.

Conclusions:

• Mesoporous Cu2O microspheres with low crystallinity are effective electrocatalysts for CO2 to C2 chemical conversion.
• The unique structural features enhance the adsorption of key intermediates and facilitate C-C coupling, leading to high CO2ER efficiency.
• This work presents a viable strategy for designing advanced catalysts for sustainable chemical production from CO2.