Evaluating the efficacy of nanosized CuZnAl and CuZnZr mixed oxides for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction

Abstract

The increased awareness of carbon management has prompted the scientific community towards delivering sustainable catalytic technologies, preferably from CO₂. Copper-based multifunctional catalysts are the most frequently used for thermal hydrogenation and electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ (CO₂R) processes. To improve the understanding and efficacy of these materials for the CO₂R reaction, Cu–Zn oxides combined with Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂ were synthesized by the coprecipitation method and annealed at 500 °C, 600 °C, and 700 °C (i.e., Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃-x and Cu/ZnO/ZrO₂ systems-x, where x is the annealing temperature) to tune their multi-functionality. We demonstrate that the composition of Cu–Zn oxides and pretreatment temperature impact the electrocatalytic CO₂R performance, where CuZnZr-600 and CuZnAl-700 materials are superior. Different characterization tools were employed to rationalize the results described in this work, which could provide a way to design an efficient catalytic system for the CO₂R process.