Facilitating CO2 electroreduction to C2H4 through facile regulating {100} & {111} grain boundary of Cu2O

Abstract

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction provides a promising route to alleviate the greenhouse effect and energy crisis. We investigated the influencing factors that conversion of CO2 to C2H4 by preparing Cu2O nanoparticles (Cu2O-p, Cu2O-2p, and Cu2O-3p) with exposed different crystal facets, sizes, and grain boundaries. Impressively, the Cu2O-3p catalyst exhibits superior selectivity (57.8%) for C2H4 generation due to its abundant {100} & {111} grain boundaries. The study demonstrated that rich grain boundaries have a significant effect on CC coupling for electrocatalysis CO2 reduction, and offered a learnable route for high-efficient CO2 reduction catalysts by regulating grain boundary.