Improving the activity of electrochemical reduction of CO_(2) to C_(1) products by oxidation derived copper catalyst

Cu-based electrocatalysts have become the focus in the field of electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(ECO_(2) RR)due to their ability to produce multicarbon products.However,the research on generating single carbon products with higher economic feasibility via ECO_(2) RR based on Cu-based electrocatalysts is rather rare,and the roles of the surface architecture and oxides of the electrocatalysts have not been explained exactly.In this work,a two-step method including thermal oxidation and electroreduction is proposed to introduce Cuþinto pure Cu foil to form Cu_(2)O/Cu electrocatalyst.By regulating the surface composition and morphology of the electrocatalyst in this way,the activity of ECO 2 RR to C_(1) products has been greatly improved.The Faradaic efficiency of carbon products of the Cu_(2)O/Cu electrode reaches 84%at?0.7 V vs.RHE with good selectivity for HCOOH and CO.The current density of Cu_(2)O/Cu electrode reaches-12.21 mA cm^(2) at-0.8 V vs.RHE,which is much higher than that of the Cu foil electrode(?0.09 mA cm?2).In-situ Raman characterization shows that Cuþin Cu_(2)O/Cu electrode could inhibit hydrogen generation and promote ECO_(2) RR by stabilizing the adsorption of CO_(2).