Oxide-Derived Copper Nanowire Bundles for Efficient CO2 Reduction to Multi-Carbon Products

Abstract

Cu-based catalysts for efficient C2+ production from CO2 electrocatalytic reduction reaction (CO2ERR) exhibit significant promise, but still suffer from ambiguous mechanisms due to the intrinsic structure instability during electroreduction. Herein, we report an oxide-derived copper nanowire bundle (OD-Cu NWB) for efficient CO2ERR to C2+ products. OD-Cu NWBs with a well-preserved nanowire bundle morphology lead to promoted multi-carbon production compared to commercial copper powders. The formation of OD-Cu NWBs shows a great dependence on the precipitation/calcination temperatures and per-reduction potentials, which further influence the ultimate CO2ERR performance correspondingly. The optimized preparation parameters for the formation of a well-ordered nanowire bundle morphology are found, leading to a preferred C2+ production ability. Besides the nanowire bundle morphology, the oxide-derived Cu essence of OD-Cu NWBs with stabilized Cu+ species from per-reduction also promotes the CO2ERR activity and facilitates the C-C coupling of key intermediates for C2+ production. This work provides a facile strategy and inspiration for CO2ERR catalyst developments targeting high-valued multi-carbon products.