Premium
Hydroxide Is Not a Promoter of C 2+ Product Formation in the Electrochemical Reduction of CO on Copper
Author(s) -
Li Jing,
Wu Donghuan,
Malkani Arnav S.,
Chang Xiaoxia,
Cheng MuJeng,
Xu Bingjun,
Lu Qi
Publication year - 2020
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.201912412
Subject(s) - electrochemistry , chemistry , carbon monoxide , inorganic chemistry , copper , electrolyte , chelation , hydrogen , hydroxide , electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide , carbon dioxide , electrode , catalysis , organic chemistry
Highly alkaline electrolytes have been shown to improve the formation rate of C 2+ products in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and carbon monoxide (CO) on copper surfaces, with the assumption that higher OH − concentrations promote the C−C coupling chemistry. Herein, by systematically varying the concentration of Na + and OH − at the same absolute electrode potential, we demonstrate that higher concentrations of cations (Na + ), rather than OH − , exert the main promotional effect on the production of C 2+ products. The impact of the nature and the concentration of cations on the electrochemical reduction of CO is supported by experiments in which a fraction or all of Na + is chelated by a crown ether. Chelation of Na + leads to drastic decrease in the formation rate of C 2+ products. The promotional effect of OH − determined at the same potential on the reversible hydrogen electrode scale is likely caused by larger overpotentials at higher electrolyte pH.