The importance of surface morphology in controlling the selectivity of polycrystalline copper for CO2 electroreduction

Abstract

This communication examines the effect of the surface morphology of polycrystalline copper on electroreduction of CO₂. We find that a copper nanoparticle covered electrode shows better selectivity towards hydrocarbons compared with the two other studied surfaces, an electropolished copper electrode and an argon sputtered copper electrode. Density functional theory calculations provide insight into the surface morphology effect.