Importance of Ag–Cu Biphasic Boundaries for Selective Electrochemical Reduction of CO2to Ethanol
Abstract
In recent years, electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) has received a great deal of attention due to the potential that this process can mitigate the atmospheric CO 2 concentration and produce valuable organic compounds. In particular, Cu and Cu-based catalysts have exhibited the capability of converting CO 2 into multicarbon fuels and chemicals in significant quantities. Here, we report a facile and cheap fabrication method for the development of an Ag-incorporated cuprous oxide (Ag-Cu 2 O) electrode enabling selective synthesis of ethanol via electrochemical CO 2 reduction and reveal the key factor improving the ethanol (C 2 H 5 OH) selectivity. The incorporation of Ag into Cu 2 O leads to the suppression of hydrogen (H 2 ) evolution, and furthermore, by varying the elemental arrangement (phase-separated and phase-blended) of Ag and Cu, we observe that C 2 H 5 OH selectivity can be controlled. Consequently, the Faradaic efficiency for C 2 H 5 OH on phase-blended Ag-Cu 2 O (Ag-Cu 2 O PB ) is 3 times higher than that of the Cu 2 O without Ag dopant. We propose that the electrochemical reaction behavior is not solely associated with a role of Ag dopant, carbon monoxide (CO) leading to an ethanol formation pathway over ethylene, but also the doping pattern related population of Ag-Cu biphasic boundaries relatively suppresses the H 2 evolution reaction and encourages the reaction of mobile CO generated on Ag to a residual intermediate on a Cu site.
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Removing the membrane simplifies the system requirements.
“Removing the membrane reduces ohmic loss, simplifies the system requirements, decreases capital costs, and alleviates salting out issues.[126,127]”
From Electrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> Reduction into Chemical Feedstocks: From Mechanistic Electrocatalysis Models to System Design (2019) · cites this paper as [127]
Removing the membrane reduces ohmic loss.
“Removing the membrane reduces ohmic loss, simplifies the system requirements, decreases capital costs, and alleviates salting out issues.[126,127]”
From Electrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> Reduction into Chemical Feedstocks: From Mechanistic Electrocatalysis Models to System Design (2019) · cites this paper as [127]
Removing the membrane alleviates salting out issues.
“Removing the membrane reduces ohmic loss, simplifies the system requirements, decreases capital costs, and alleviates salting out issues.[126,127]”
From Electrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> Reduction into Chemical Feedstocks: From Mechanistic Electrocatalysis Models to System Design (2019) · cites this paper as [127]
Removing the membrane decreases capital costs.
“Removing the membrane reduces ohmic loss, simplifies the system requirements, decreases capital costs, and alleviates salting out issues.[126,127]”
From Electrochemical CO <sub>2</sub> Reduction into Chemical Feedstocks: From Mechanistic Electrocatalysis Models to System Design (2019) · cites this paper as [127]
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- Authors
- Lee, S., Park, G., & Lee, J.
- Affiliations
- Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
- Corresponding author
- Lee, Jaeyoung
- Venue
- ACS Catalysis
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2017-11-17
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 8594-8604
- ISSN
- 2155-5435 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2767773590
- Cited by
- 391
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 41 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 52 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 65 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 42 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 7.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- ACS Catalysis (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (20153030031720)
- Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (K07723)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Physical Sciences › Chemical Engineering › Catalysis › Catalysts for Methane Reforming
- Physical Sciences › Energy › Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment › Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Keywords
- electrochemical CO2 reduction, ethanol selectivity, cuprous oxide, silver doping, hydrogen evolution suppression, Faradaic efficiency, CO intermediate, reaction pathways
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