Benchmarking the Electrochemical CO2 Reduction on Polycrystalline Copper Foils
The Importance of Microstructure Versus Applied Potential
Simone Asperti (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
Ruud Hendrikx (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
Yaiza Gonzalez-Garcia (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
Ruud Kortlever (TU Delft - Mechanical Engineering)
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Abstract
Copper is one of the most promising catalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) due to its unique capability of producing multicarbon products in appreciable quantities. Most of the CO2RR research efforts have been directed towards the development of new electrocatalysts to either increase product selectivities or decrease overpotentials. In contrast, only a few studies have systematically tested or benchmarked CO2RR performances of electrocatalysts. In this paper, for the first time, the performances of five different polycrystalline copper foils purchased from different suppliers are benchmarked for their CO2RR performance. Their differences are characterized in terms of microstructural features and the effect that these microstructural properties have on the electrocatalytic behavior during potentiostatic CO2RR experiments are evaluated. It is shown that the potential applied is the dominant factor controlling CO2RR selectivities, leading to the conclusion that microstructural properties of polycrystalline copper electrodes have a negligible effect on the outcome of CO2RR experiments.
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