Dynamic restructuring of epitaxial Au–Cu biphasic interface for tandem CO2-to-C2+ alcohol conversion

Achieving High Single‐Pass Carbon Conversion Efficiencies in Durable CO2 Electroreduction in Strong Acids via Electrode Structure Engineering

“…[8] Second, core/shell nanostructures limit CO 2 diffusion through the deposited surface shells to the core, leading to a considerable decrease in CO 2 R activity. [9] Herein, we propose an alternative approach based on the modification of the electrode structure. We show that by conformally coating the CO 2 R catalysts with an electrically nonconductive ion-transport-regulating layer, the diffusion of cations and anions, particularly OH À anions, was significantly suppressed within the nanostructures of the layer.…”

“…However, these strategies are not directly applicable to CO 2 R because first, doping with noble metals significantly alters the original electronic structures of the active sites of CO 2 R electrocatalysts, promoting undesired HER [8] . Second, core/shell nanostructures limit CO 2 diffusion through the deposited surface shells to the core, leading to a considerable decrease in CO 2 R activity [9] …”

Selective Tandem CO2-to-C2+ Alcohol Conversion at a Single-Crystal Au/Cu Bimetallic Interface

“…The synthesis of single-crystal Au/Cu heterostructures refers to our previous work. , Specifically, the commercial Cu foil (25 μm thick, 99.8%, Sichuan Oriental Stars Trading Co. Ltd., #Cu-1031) was first loaded into a chemical vapor deposition furnace using a quartz substrate. After mild heating, the Cu foil was oxidized at 150–650 °C in air for 1–4 h. Afterward, the system was heated to 1020 °C in 1 h with 800 sccm Ar and 50 sccm H 2 , then the Cu foil was annealed at 1020 °C for 3–10 h under the same atmosphere, and finally, the system was naturally cooled down to room temperature to obtain large-scale single-crystal Cu foils.…”

Enrichment of reactants and intermediates for electrocatalytic CO2reduction

“…In another case, Zhang and co-workers rationally designed an epitaxial Au-Cu heterostructure as a model system to accurately correlate the atomic reconstruction with catalytic performance. 183 They carried out atomic-scale HAADF-STEM imaging to reveal the dynamic restructuring of the Au-Cu interface. They found that at an open circuit potential, the oxygen atoms in the electrolytes would be incorporated into the Cu atomic structure, which caused Cu 0 exposed to electrolyte to be oxidized to Cu + and Cu 2+ .…”