Tailoring Copper Nanocrystals towards C 2 Products in Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction
- Department of Chemical Sciences and Engineering École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne 1950 Sion Switzerland
- Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA 94720 USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of California Berkeley CA 94720 USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of California, Berkeley Berkeley CA 94720 USA
- Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley CA 94720 USA, Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of California Berkeley CA 94720 USA
Abstract Favoring the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) over the hydrogen evolution reaction and controlling the selectivity towards multicarbon products are currently major scientific challenges in sustainable energy research. It is known that the morphology of the catalyst can modulate catalytic activity and selectivity, yet this remains a relatively underexplored area in electrochemical CO 2 reduction. Here, we exploit the material tunability afforded by colloidal chemistry to establish unambiguous structure/property relations between Cu nanocrystals and their behavior as electrocatalysts for CO 2 reduction. Our study reveals a non‐monotonic size‐dependence of the selectivity in cube‐shaped copper nanocrystals. Among 24 nm, 44 nm and 63 nm cubes tested, the cubes with 44 nm edge length exhibited the highest selectivity towards CO2RR (80 %) and faradaic efficiency for ethylene (41 %). Statistical analysis of the surface atom density suggests the key role played by edge sites in CO2RR.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231; SC0004993
- OSTI ID:
- 1401659
- Journal Information:
- Angewandte Chemie, Journal Name: Angewandte Chemie Vol. 128 Journal Issue: 19; ISSN 0044-8249
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
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