A hydrophobic Cu/Cu2O sheet catalyst for selective electroreduction of CO to ethanol

Abstract

Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon monoxide into fuels or chemicals with two or more carbons is very attractive due to their high energy density and economic value. Herein we demonstrate the synthesis of a hydrophobic Cu/Cu2O sheet catalyst with hydrophobic n-butylamine layer and its application in CO electroreduction. The CO reduction on this catalyst produces two or more carbon products with a Faradaic efficiency of 93.5% and partial current density of 151 mA cm−2 at the potential of −0.70 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode. A Faradaic efficiency of 68.8% and partial current density of 111 mA cm−2 for ethanol were reached, which is very high in comparison to all previous reports of CO2/CO electroreduction with a total current density higher than 10 mA cm−2. The as-prepared catalyst also showed impressive stability that the activity and selectivity for two or more carbon products could remain even after 100 operating hours. This work opens a way for efficient electrocatalytic conversion of CO2/CO to liquid fuels.

Surfactant-Enhanced Formation of Ethylene from Carbon Monoxide Electroreduction on Copper Catalysts

“…Additionally, CO was reduced to ethylene with a FE of 40% on OD-Cu 0.1M TBAN compared to 27% on OD-Cu 0.1M NaNO 3 , suggesting that TBA + does indeed promote ethylene formation. A recent work by Ma et al had also noted that ethylene production was favored when more n -butylamine was used during the synthesis of hydrophobic Cu-based catalysts, further highlighting the effect of surfactants on CORR.…”

Engineering a Local Hydrophilic Environment in Fuel Oil for Efficient Oxidative Desulfurization with Minimum H2O2 Oxidant

“…5,6 The kinetics of a catalytic reaction are profoundly influenced by the properties of the catalysts and the local concentrations of reactants near the catalytic site (hereinafter referred to as the local reaction environment). 7,8 However, the insolubility of hydrophilic H 2 O 2 in the oil phase (Figure S1) necessitates an excess of oxidants to enhance the contact probability with active sites under continuous stirring. 5 The molar ratio of hydrogen peroxide to sulfur (O/S ratio) in sulfur-containing compounds (SCCs) has been reported to range from 3 to 20 in the prior literature.…”

“…Concerns about hazardous emissions of SO x from fuel combustion are motivating the development of desulfurization technology aimed at producing large-scale production of ultra-clean fuel. − One promising strategy for achieving this goal is to exploit oxidative desulfurization (ODS) technology, which offers high catalytic efficiency and low capital costs . Unlike organic oxidants with prohibitive prices and molecular oxygen oxidant with high activation energy, green and efficient H 2 O 2 oxidant promises a carbon-neutral and cost-effective desulfurization process. , The kinetics of a catalytic reaction are profoundly influenced by the properties of the catalysts and the local concentrations of reactants near the catalytic site (hereinafter referred to as the local reaction environment). , However, the insolubility of hydrophilic H 2 O 2 in the oil phase (Figure S1) necessitates an excess of oxidants to enhance the contact probability with active sites under continuous stirring . The molar ratio of hydrogen peroxide to sulfur (O/S ratio) in sulfur-containing compounds (SCCs) has been reported to range from 3 to 20 in the prior literature. , In fact, the application of immoderate oxidant not only has no significant effect on improving ODS activity but also requires extra steps to separate the residual oxidant and refined oil.…”

Metal-free B4@g-C3N4: a potential electrocatalyst for highly selective and efficient conversion of CO to ethanol

“…9 However, the continued reduction of CO to C2 + products is still facing many problems, such as poor selectivity, high overpotential (∼1 V), and low yields, and the C-C coupling mechanism is still unclear. [10][11][12][13][14] Hence, nding a new electrocatalyst that can reduce CO to C2 + products with high selectivity and efficiency is difficult.…”