Hydrophobic surface efficiently boosting Cu2O nanowires photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction activity

Yanfang Zhang; Weixin Qiu; Yang Liu; Keke Wang; Luwei Zou; Yu Zhou; Min Liu; Xiaoqing Qiu; Jie Li; Wenzhang Li

doi:10.1039/D3CC00825H

Hydrophobic surface efficiently boosting Cu₂O nanowires photoelectrochemical CO₂ reduction activity†

Yanfang Zhang,^a Weixin Qiu,^a Yang Liu,^a Keke Wang,^a Luwei Zou,^b Yu Zhou,^b Min Liu,

^b Xiaoqing Qiu,

^a Jie Li*^a and Wenzhang Li

*^ac

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, China
E-mail: liwenzhang@csu.edu.cn, lijieliu@csu.edu.cn

^b School of Physics and Electronics, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China

^c Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Power Sources, Central South University, Changsha, China

Abstract

The limited mass transfer of CO₂ and the competitive hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) during photoelectrochemical (PEC) CO₂ reduction usually result in low CO₂ reduction activity. Here, we constructed a Cu₂O/Sn/PTFE photocathode with a hydrophobic surface based on Cu₂O by physical vapor deposition and a dipping method. The CO faradaic efficiency (FE) increased from 34.5% (Cu₂O) to 95.1% (Cu₂O/Sn/PTFE) at −0.7 V vs. RHE, and the FE_H2 decreased from 27.9% (Cu₂O) to 3.8% (Cu₂O/Sn/PTFE). The introduction of the hydrophobic layer enhances the local CO₂ concentration on the electrode surface and effectively isolates H⁺ from the aqueous electrolyte, thereby enhancing the CO₂ reduction activity.

Chemical Communications

Hydrophobic surface efficiently boosting Cu₂O nanowires photoelectrochemical CO₂ reduction activity†

Abstract

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Hydrophobic surface efficiently boosting Cu₂O nanowires photoelectrochemical CO₂ reduction activity

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