A perovskite La₂CuO₄ electrocatalyst for CO₂ selective reduction to multi-carbon products

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to C₂₊ products offers a sustainable route for chemical synthesis.
• Challenges include slow carbon-carbon coupling and low selectivity, hindering practical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a high-performance electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction to C₂₊ products.
• To investigate the mechanism of CO₂ reduction on a novel copper-based perovskite material.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis and characterization of La₂CuO₄ electrocatalyst.
• Electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) measurements.
• In situ spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Main Results:

• La₂CuO₄ achieved 90.6% Faradaic efficiency for C₂₊ products with a partial current density of 453 mA·cm^-2.
• Electrochemical reconstruction formed a Cu (111)/La₂CuO₄ (113) interface, enhancing CO₂ activation and *CO intermediate generation.
• Mixed *CO adsorption configurations promoted asymmetric *CO-*CHO coupling, improving C₂₊ selectivity.

Conclusions:

• Electrochemical reconstruction of Cu-based perovskites is a viable strategy for high-performance CO₂RR catalysts.
• The Cu/La₂CuO₄ interface facilitates efficient CO₂ conversion to valuable chemicals.
• This work demonstrates significant potential for perovskite materials in CO₂ utilization.