Dual 2D CuSe/g-C3N4 heterostructure for boosting electrocatalytic reduction of CO2

Abstract

CO2 Reduction Reaction (CO2RR) is an effective route to convert CO2 to value-added products in energy and environment. In this work, a series of CuSe/g-C3N4 electrodes were synthesized by anchoring hexagonal CuSe nanoplates on g-C3N4 nanosheets and used for electrochemical CO2RR. Among the as-prepared electrodes, 50wt% CuSe on g-C3N4 performed the highest Faradaic efficiency of 85.28% to achieve 1.47 times higher than that of the pure CuSe NPs at -1.2 V vs. RHE due to the larger specific area provided by the introduction of planar-structure g-C3N4 NSs and faster electron transfer speed on the interface of CuSe NPs and g-C3N4 NSs. Meanwhile the calculations of density functional theory confirmed the electronic coupling on the electrodes to form an internal electric field between two materials and electron direction from g-C3N4 NSs to CuSe NPs. This work created a novel opportunity for optimizing design of electrode materials to enhance the CO selectivity of CO2RR.