Selective C–C coupling via copper atom reconfiguration in CO₂ electroreduction

Abstract

Copper-based catalysts play a pivotal role in CO₂ electroreduction (CER) toward multi-carbon (C₂₊) products. However, achieving a high selectivity for C₂₊ products remains a formidable challenge. In this work, a facile electrochemical oxidation-reduction technique was developed to modulate the surface morphology of a copper foil using sulfur and oxygen as auxiliary atoms. Optimization of this approach resulted in an atomically reconstructed copper electrode (denoted as Cu-50) with a surface tensile strain of 1.1% and preferential exposure of Cu(100) facets. Cu-50 delivered remarkable Faradaic efficiencies (up to 72%) for C₂₊ products during CER, with a 53% selectivity for ethylene (10-fold higher than for a non-reconstructed Cu foil). This work guides the design of advanced copper-based catalysts that promote C–C coupling, demonstrating the potential of tailored copper structures for efficient conversion of CO₂ to valuable C₂₊ products.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

CO₂ electroreduction / atom reconfiguration / copper / C–C coupling / ethylene

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFA1502200), the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (Nos. RCJC20231211090051085, KJZD20230923115759014, JCYJ20230807151159002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21935001, 22175012), the National Key Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. Z210016), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (No. 2022QNRC001), the Project of PetroChina Technology Management Department (No. 2023ZZ1202), and the long-term subsidy mechanism from the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Education of China. GINW acknowledges funding support from the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at http://doi.org/10.1007/s11705-025-2527-4 and is accessible for authorized users.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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