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Research Article

Interstitial carbon induces enriched Cuδ + sites in Cu2O nanoparticles to facilitate CO2 electroreduction to C2+ products

Haoran Wang1,§, Rongbo Sun2,§, Peigen Liu3,§, Haohui Hu1, Chen Ling1, Xiao Han1, Yi Shi1, Xusheng Zheng3, Geng Wu1(), Xun Hong1()
Center of Advanced Nanocatalysis (CAN), Department of Applied Chemistry, Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China
Sinochem Holdings Co Ltd, Xiongan New Area, Hebei 071700, China
National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, China

§ Haoran Wang, Rongbo Sun, and Peigen Liu contributed equally to this work.

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The interstitial carbon promotes the Cu2O nanoparticles (C-Cu2O NPs) to possess abundant unsaturated Cu–O bonds, leading to a high-density Cuδ+ (0< δ <1) species. The obtained C-Cu2O NPs exhibited significant Faradic efficiency of C2+ products approaching 76.9% and a partial current density reaching 615.2 mA·cm–2 under an industrial-level current density of 800 mA·cm–2.

Abstract

The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) holds significant promise in advancing carbon neutrality. Developing catalysts for the electrochemical CO2RR to multi-carbon (C2+) products (e.g., C2H4) under industrial-level current density is urgently needed and pivotal. Herein, we report the Cu2O nanoparticles doped with interstitial carbon atoms (denoted as C-Cu2O NPs) for the conversion of CO2 to C2+ products. The interstitial carbon promotes the C-Cu2O NPs to possess abundant unsaturated Cu–O bonds, leading to a high-density Cuδ+ (0 < δ <1) species. The obtained C-Cu2O NPs exhibited significant Faradic efficiency (FE) of C2+ products approaching 76.9% and a partial current density reaching 615.2 mA·cm–2 under an industrial-level current density of 800 mA·cm–2. Furthermore, the efficient electrosynthesis of C2H4 achieved an FE of 57.4% with a partial current density of 459.2 mA·cm–2. In situ electrochemical attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and in situ Raman spectroscopy analyses revealed that C-Cu2O NPs stabilized the intermediate *CO and facilitated C–C coupling, leading to increased selectivity towards C2+ products.

Keywords

CO2 electroreductionC–C couplinginterstitial carbon*CO coverageindustrial-level current density

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Nano Research
Volume 17 Issue 8,
August 2024
Pages 7013-7019
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-024-6731-1
Cite this article:
Wang H, Sun R, Liu P, et al. Interstitial carbon induces enriched Cuδ + sites in Cu2O nanoparticles to facilitate CO2 electroreduction to C2+ products. Nano Research, 2024, 17(8): 7013-7019. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6731-1
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