Facet-Dependent Selectivity of Cu Catalysts in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction at Commercially Viable Current Densities
Gian Luca De Gregorio (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
T.E. Burdyny (TU Delft - ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage)
Anna Loiudice (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
Pranit Iyengar (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
WA Smith (TU Delft - ChemE/Materials for Energy Conversion and Storage)
Raffaella Buonsanti (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
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Abstract
Despite substantial progress in the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals, the translation of fundamental studies into commercially relevant conditions requires additional efforts. Here, we study the catalytic properties of tailored Cu nanocatalysts under commercially relevant current densities in a gas-fed flow cell. We demonstrate that their facet-dependent selectivity is retained in this device configuration with the advantage of further suppressing hydrogen production and increasing the faradaic efficiencies toward the CO2 reduction products compared to a conventional H-cell. The combined catalyst and system effects result in state-of-the art product selectivity at high current densities (in the range 100-300 mA/cm2) and at relatively low applied potential (as low as-0.65 V vs RHE). Cu cubes reach an ethylene selectivity of up to 57% with a corresponding mass activity of 700 mA/mg, and Cu octahedra reach a methane selectivity of up to 51% with a corresponding mass activity of 1.45 A/mg in 1 M KOH.
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