Sn-modified Cu nanosheets catalyze CO₂ reduction to C₂H₄ efficiently by stabilizing CO intermediates and promoting CC...

Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) is a process in which CO₂ is reduced to high-value-added C₁ and C₂ energy sources, particularly ethylene (C₂H₄), thereby supporting carbon-neutral recycling with minimal consumption. This makes it a promising technology with significant potential. Nevertheless, the low selectivity for C₂H₄ remains a significant challenge in practical applications. In this paper, a strategy based on Cu-Sn bimetallic catalysts is proposed to improve the selectivity of electrocatalytic conversion of CO₂ to C₂H₄ over Cu-based catalysts. The experimental results show that the Faradaic efficiency (FE) of C₂H₄ can reach up to 48.74 %, and the FE of C₂ product reaches 60 %, at which time the local current density is 11.99 mA/cm². Compared with pure Cu catalyst, the FE and local current density of C₂H₄ increased by 55.27 % and 35.33 %, respectively. Moreover, the FE of C₂H₄ remained above 40 % after 8 h over Cu₁₀-Sn catalyst. The addition of Sn facilitates the transfer of local electrons from Cu to Sn, stabilizes the *CO intermediate, promotes CC coupling, significantly lowers the reaction energy barrier, and enables highly efficient CO₂RR catalysis for C₂H₄ production.