Double Tuning of the Local Environment on Cu Nanoparticles Towards Enhanced C₂₊ Selectivity

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to multi-carbon products is a key strategy for sustainable fuel and feedstock synthesis.
• Copper (Cu) is a promising catalyst for CO2 electroreduction, but achieving selective multi-carbon product formation remains challenging due to broad product distribution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel catalyst for efficient and selective electrochemical reduction of CO2 to multi-carbon (C2+) products.
• To investigate the role of boron doping and induced defects in enhancing catalytic performance.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of boron-doped copper nanoparticles (B-Cu NPs) with engineered defects.
• Electrochemical characterization of CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) performance, including Faradaic efficiency and stability.
• Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to elucidate reaction mechanisms and active sites.

Main Results:

• B-Cu NPs demonstrated significantly enhanced selectivity towards C2+ products.
• Achieved a C2+ Faradaic efficiency of approximately 75% at -1.1 V (vs. RHE).
• The catalyst exhibited excellent stability, maintaining performance for up to 30 hours.

Conclusions:

• Boron doping in Cu NPs creates defects and modifies the local electronic environment, promoting CO2RR to C2+ products.
• Enhanced adsorption of *CO intermediate and reduced energy barriers for C-C coupling are key to improved performance.
• This work presents an effective strategy for tuning catalyst properties to enhance C2+ production via CO2 electroreduction.