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Controllable Hydrocarbon Formation from the Electrochemical Reduction of CO 2 over Cu Nanowire Arrays
Author(s) -
Ma Ming,
Djanashvili Kristina,
Smith Wilson A.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201601282
Subject(s) - nanowire , materials science , electrochemistry , electrode , selectivity , foil method , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , morphology (biology) , chemistry , catalysis , composite material , organic chemistry , biology , engineering , genetics
In this work, the effect of Cu nanowire morphology on the selective electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 is presented. Cu nanowire arrays were prepared through a two‐step synthesis of Cu(OH) 2 and CuO nanowire arrays on Cu foil substrates and a subsequent electrochemical reduction of the CuO nanowire arrays to Cu nanowire arrays. By this simple synthesis method, Cu nanowire array electrodes with different length and density were able to be controllably synthesized. We show that the selectivity for hydrocarbons (ethylene, n‐propanol, ethane, and ethanol) on Cu nanowire array electrodes at a fixed potential can be tuned by systematically altering the Cu nanowire length and density. The nanowire morphology effect is linked to the increased local pH in the Cu nanowire arrays and a reaction scheme detailing the local pH‐induced formation of C 2 products is also presented by a preferred CO dimerization pathway.