Revealing active Cu nanograins for electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction through operando studies

Abstract

Copper (Cu) has been regarded as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for the conversion of CO₂ into a multicarbon product. However, the catalytic mechanism and the active sites of Cu catalysts under operating conditions still remain elusive. Yang's team applied systematic operando characterization techniques to provide a quantitative analysis of the valence states and the chemical environment of Cu nanocatalysts under electrochemical reaction conditions, which clearly reveal the evolution of Cu nanocatalysts before and after the entire electrochemical CO₂ reduction.

Keywords

CO ₂ reduction / copper / electrocatalysis / nanograins / operando techniques

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2023 The Authors. SmartMat published by Tianjin University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.