Issue 2, 2019

Superaerophilic copper nanowires for efficient and switchable CO2 electroreduction

Abstract

Copper is one of the most efficient electrocatalysts for switchable carbon dioxide conversion, but the design of an advanced Cu-based catalyst with high selectivity while suppressing hydrogen evolution remains a great challenge. Herein, we use Cu nanowires (Cu NWs) as the starting materials and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as the surface modifier to make a superaerophilic electrode using a wettability control strategy. This strategy allows tuning of the selectivity of the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) and a decrease of the hydrogen evolution rate simultaneously by facilitating the supply of CO2 reactants and inhibiting the adsorption of water (protons). The transferring point from a pinning to bursting state turned out to be the optimized condition leading to the highest CO2RR faradaic efficiency without significant interference of current density. The optimized superaerophilic Cu NW catalyst showed CO-selectivity with a Faraday efficiency of 71% at −0.4 V vs. RHE and HCOOH-selectivity with a Faraday efficiency of 68% at −0.6 V vs. RHE. Moreover, the accelerated gas and ion diffusion and homogenized reactions also avoided accumulative damage on the surface of the Cu NWs and enhanced the stability of the Cu catalyst. This wettability tuning strategy provides a facile and efficient way to optimize the gas and ion diffusion layers, therefore promoting the performance of the CO2RR. This strategy potentially can be extended to the design of other gas consumption electrocatalysts.

Graphical abstract: Superaerophilic copper nanowires for efficient and switchable CO2 electroreduction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
22 8月 2018
Accepted
09 11月 2018
First published
09 11月 2018

Nanoscale Horiz., 2019,4, 490-494

Superaerophilic copper nanowires for efficient and switchable CO2 electroreduction

Y. Zhang, Z. Cai, Y. Zhao, X. Wen, W. Xu, Y. Zhong, L. Bai, W. Liu, Y. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Y. Kuang and X. Sun, Nanoscale Horiz., 2019, 4, 490 DOI: 10.1039/C8NH00259B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements