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Coupled Copper–Zinc Catalysts for Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide
Author(s) -
Zeng Juqin,
Rino Telemaco,
Bejtka Katarzyna,
Castellino Micaela,
Sacco Adriano,
Farkhondehfal M. Amin,
Chiodoni Angelica,
Drago Filippo,
Pirri Candido F.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.202000971
Subject(s) - catalysis , electrochemistry , bimetallic strip , materials science , copper , inorganic chemistry , electrolyte , chemical engineering , zinc , electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide , electrode , chemistry , carbon monoxide , metallurgy , organic chemistry , engineering
A catalyst plays a key role in the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to valuable chemicals and fuels. Hence, the development of efficient and inexpensive catalysts has attracted great interest from both the academic and industrial communities. In this work, low‐cost catalysts coupling Cu and Zn are designed and prepared with a green microwave‐assisted route. The Cu to Zn ratio in the catalysts can be easily tuned by adjusting the precursor solutions. The obtained Cu–Zn catalysts are mainly composed of polycrystalline Cu particles and monocrystalline ZnO nanoparticles. The electrodes with optimized Cu–Zn catalysts show enhanced CO production rates of approximately 200 μmol h −1 cm −2 with respect to those with a monometallic Cu or ZnO catalyst under the same applied potential. At the bimetallic electrodes, ZnO‐derived active sites are selective for CO formation and highly conductive Cu favors electron transport in the catalyst layer as well as charge transfer at the electrode/electrolyte interface.