Publicación

Reduced graphene oxide overlayer on copper nanocube electrodes steers the selectivity towards ethanol in electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide

Elías Mardones‐Herrera · Carmen Castro‐Castillo · Kamala Kanta Nanda · Nicolás Veloso · Felipe Leyton · Francisco Martínez · Natalia Sáez‐Pizarro · Domingo Ruiz‐León · Marı́a J. Aguirre · Francisco Armijo
2022 ChemElectroChem DOI: 10.1002/celc.202200259

Resumen

Developing copper‐based electrocatalysts that favor high‐value multi‐carbon oxygenates is desired, given their use as platform chemicals and as a direct fuel for transportation. Combining a CO‐selective catalyst with copper shifts the selectivity of CO 2 electroreduction toward C 2 products. Herein, we developed a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)‐modified copper nanocube electrocatalyst that could shift the selectivity of CO 2 electroreduction towards ethanol (Faradaic efficiency 76. 84 % at −0.9 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). Spectroelectrochemical Raman analysis reveals a higher population of *C 2 H x O y intermediates at −0.9 V vs. RHE on the rGO‐modified copper nanocube electrocatalyst surface, which coincides with the highest faradaic efficiency of ethanol upon CO 2 electroreduction at the same potential. Our results demonstrate that the rGO modification can enhance ethanol selectivity through a probable tandem electrocatalysis mechanism and provide insights into controlling electrocatalytic activity and product selectivity in the CO 2 electroreduction reaction.

Autores y colaboradores

Authors

Elías Mardones‐Herrera
Carmen Castro‐Castillo
Nicolás Veloso
Felipe Leyton
Natalia Sáez‐Pizarro
Domingo Ruiz‐León
Marı́a J. Aguirre
Francisco Armijo

Palabras clave

Copper nanocubes Electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction Reduced graphene oxide Spectroelectrochemical Raman Tandem electrocatalysis