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Research Article

Oxidation-induced phase separation of carbon-supported CuAu nanoparticles for electrochemical reduction of CO2

Yayun Guan1,§, Yatian Liu1,§, Qingye Ren1, Zejian Dong1(), Langli Luo1,2()
Institute of Molecular Plus, Department of Chemistry, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China

§ Yayun Guan and Yatian Liu contributed equally to this work.

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Phase separation of CuAu nanoparticles (NPs) in different types of carbon supports leads to different CO Faradaic efficiency (FE) for the electrochemical CO2 reduction.

Abstract

Alloy nanostructures have been extensively exploited in both thermal and electrochemical catalysis due to their beneficial “synergetic effects” and being cost-effective. Understandings of the alloy nanostructures including phases, interfaces, and chemical composition are prerequisites for utilizing them as efficient electrocatalysts. Here, we use carbon-supported CuAu nanoparticles as a model catalyst to demonstrate the phase-separation induced variation of electrochemical performance for the CO2 reduction reaction. Driven by thermal oxidation, the CuOx phase gradually separates from the original CuAu nanoparticles, and different carbon supports, i.e., graphene vs. carbon nanotube lead to a reversed trend in the selectivity towards CO production. Through detailed structural and chemical analysis, we find the extent of phase separation holds the key to this variation and could be used as an effective method to tune the electrochemical properties of the alloy phase.

Keywords

CuAuCO2 reduction reactionelectrochemicalphase separationatomic scale

Electronic Supplementary Material

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Nano Research
Volume 16 Issue 2,
February 2023
Pages 2119-2125
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-022-4935-9
Cite this article:
Guan Y, Liu Y, Ren Q, et al. Oxidation-induced phase separation of carbon-supported CuAu nanoparticles for electrochemical reduction of CO2. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 2119-2125. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-4935-9
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