Ag Stabilized Cu<sup>+</sup>/Cu<sup>0</sup> Interface
Catalysts for Enhanced CO<sub>2</sub> Electroreduction to C<sub>2+</sub> Products at Ampere Level Current Density
posted on 2025-03-13, 14:35authored byYiyuan Jiang, Chunmei Lv, Borong Lu, Yanpeng Song, Tianfu Liu, Xiaomin Zhang, Dunfeng Gao, Ke Ye, Guoxiong Wang
Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO<sub>2</sub>RR) to yield multicarbon (C<sub>2+</sub>) products still suffers
from a great hardship, which requires high current density and Faradaic efficiency (FE) accompanied
by favorable stability for the purpose of industrial applications.
Herein, we display 5.6 atom % Ag/Cu<sub>2</sub>O–Cu catalyst
with abundant and steady Ag/Cu<sup>+</sup>/Cu<sup>0</sup> interfaces
for the efficient conversion of CO<sub>2</sub>-to-C<sub>2+</sub> at
ampere level current density. 5.6 atom % Ag/Cu<sub>2</sub>O–Cu
catalyst attains a desirable FE of 76.5 ± 1.2% toward C<sub>2+</sub> products at 1.0 A/cm<sup>2</sup> in 1 M KOH electrolyte and remains
stable CO<sub>2</sub> electrolysis at 0.50 A/cm<sup>2</sup> for 20
h using a flow cell apparatus. <i>In situ</i> Raman spectrometry
and density functional theory calculations indicate that a steady
Ag/Cu<sup>+</sup>/Cu<sup>0</sup> interface can promote CO<sub>2</sub>-to-C<sub>2+</sub> conversion through adjusting the energy barrier
for the formation and dimerization of *CO intermediates. The synergistically
heterogeneous interfaces promote the activity, selectivity, and stability
of CO<sub>2</sub> electroreduction to C<sub>2+</sub> products via
a tandem route of *COOH, *CO, and *OCCO intermediates over Ag/Cu<sup>+</sup>/Cu<sup>0</sup> cooperative sites.