(Invited) Copper Electrodeposition for Catalysis and Devices

Abstract

This talk discusses two aspects related to Cu electrodeposition.In the first area, we discuss our use of Cu electrodeposition to create very active catalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). We describe how using appropriate additives highly porous Cu and Cu-alloy surfaces can be created. We also show how electrodeposition can be used to incorporate polymers, the addition of which yields exceptionally active catalysts for ethylene production. The activity of these surfaces is interrogated using spectroscopy, which reports on the effect of oxides, pH, and alloy identity on product speciation.In the second area, we evaluate the effect of chain length for a series of alkyl sulfonic acid additives on Cu electrodeposition by using a combination of electrochemical and Raman spectroscopic methods. The spectroscopy reports on the relative degree of cis and trans character in adsorbed additives, which is correlated with activity.