CO₂ Electroreduction to Near-Unity CO Triggered by Built-in Electric Field Over P-N-Heterojunction Cu₂O-Cd(OH)₂...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Catalysis

Background:

• Copper-based nanomaterials are promising catalysts for CO2 electroreduction (ECR).
• Current catalysts suffer from poor selectivity, limiting industrial use.
• Developing highly selective and stable ECR catalysts is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design a Cu-based nano-catalyst with enhanced selectivity for CO production via ECR.
• To investigate the effect of a built-in electric field (BIEF) strategy on catalyst performance.
• To demonstrate the industrial applicability of the developed catalyst.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a P-N heterojunction catalyst: Cu₂O-Cd(OH)₂.
• Electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction (ECR) experiments in a flow battery.
• In situ characterization and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Main Results:

• The Cu₂O-Cd(OH)₂ catalyst achieved near-unity CO selectivity (FE_CO > 99%).
• Exceptional stability and high CO partial current density (303.21 mA cm^-2) were observed.
• BIEF at the Cu₂O-Cd(OH)₂ interface accelerated electron transfer and reduced reaction barriers.

Conclusions:

• The BIEF strategy effectively enhances CO selectivity and stability in Cu-based ECR catalysts.
• The Cu₂O-Cd(OH)₂ catalyst shows great potential for industrial CO₂ electroreduction.
• This work provides a pathway for designing efficient catalysts for ECR industrialization.