Efficient electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to ethylene on copper–antimony bimetallic alloy catalyst

The exploration of efficient electrocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 to C2H4 is of significant importance but is also a challenging subject.Cu-based bimetallic catalysts are extremely promising for efficient CO2 reduction.In this work,we synthesize a series of porous bimetallic Cu–Sb alloys with different compositions for the catalytic reduction of CO2 to C2H4.It is demonstrated that the alloy catalysts are much more efficient than the pure Cu catalyst.The performance of the alloy catalysts depended strongly on the composition.Further,the alloy with a Cu:Sb ratio of 10:1 yielded the best results;it exhibited a high C2H4 Faradaic efficiency of 49.7%and a high current density of 28.5 mA cm?2 at?1.19 V vs.a reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE)in 0.1 M KCl solution.To the best of our knowledge,the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to C2H4 using Cu–Sb alloys as catalysts has not been reported.The excellent performance of the porous alloy catalyst is attributed to its favorable electronic configuration,large surface area,high CO2 adsorption rate,and fast charge transfer rate.

Electrochemical CO_(2)reduction to C_(2+)products over Cu/Zn intermetallic catalysts synthesized by electrodeposition

Electrocatalytic CO_(2)reduction(ECR)offers an attractive approach to realizing carbon neutrality and producing valuable chemicals and fuels using CO_(2)as the feedstock.However,the lack of cost-effective electrocatalysts with better performances has seriously hindered its application.Herein,a one-step co-electrodeposition method was used to introduce Zn,a metal with weak^(*)CO binding energy,into Cu to form Cu/Zn intermetallic catalysts(Cu/Zn IMCs).It was shown that,using an H-cell,the high Faradaic efficiency of C_(2+)hydrocarbons/alcohols()could be achieved in ECR by adjusting the surface metal components and the applied potential.In suitable conditions,FEC_(2+)and current density could be as high as 75%and 40 mA/cm^(2),respectively.Compared with the Cu catalyst,the Cu/Zn IMCs have a lower interfacial charge transfer resistance and a larger electrochemically active surface area(ECSA),which accelerate the reaction.Moreover,the^(*)CO formed on Zn sites can move to Cu sites due to its weak binding with*CO,and thus enhance the C–C coupling on the Cu surface to form C_(2+)products.