Cu Monolayer on Au/C and Pt/C for the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Hydrocarbons

Abstract

In the electrochemical conversion of CO2 into carbon – based fuels, one of the scientific challenges is the development of high activity catalysts to enhance the CO2 reduction at low overpotentials, yield valuable hydrocarbons at high current efficiency and diminish hydrogen evolution reaction activity. In this work, we present the design of nano-structured high surface area electrodes based on a Cu monolayer on Au or Pt nanoparticles supported on Carbon. A full monolayer of Cu was synthesized by underpotential deposition on Au or Pt nanoparticles for the electroreduction of CO2. Preliminary results shows that a full monolayer of Cu on Au or Pt nanoparticles cores exhibited an enhancement of the CO2 activity by a factor of 1.13 and 1.25, respectively, at -1.7 V vs. NHE over the native metal core nanoparticles in 0.1 M KHCO3. The Cu monolayer remains stable and intact on the carbon-supported Pt and Au nanoparticles before and after performing CO2 reduction.