Gold-in-copper at low *CO coverage enables efficient electromethanation of CO2

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

107 Scopus Citations
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Author(s)

  • Pengfei Ou
  • Joshua Wicks
  • Yi Xie
  • Ying Wang
  • Jun Li
  • Jason Tam
  • Dan Ren
  • Jane Y. Howe
  • Ziyun Wang
  • Adnan Ozden
  • Y. Zou Finfrock
  • Yi Xu
  • Yuhang Li
  • Armin Sedighian Rasouli
  • Koen Bertens
  • Alexander H. Ip
  • Michael Graetzel
  • David Sinton
  • Edward H. Sargent

Detail(s)

Original languageEnglish
Article number3387
Journal / PublicationNature Communications
Volume12
Online published7 Jun 2021
Publication statusPublished - 2021
Externally publishedYes

Link(s)

Abstract

The renewable-electricity-powered CO2 electroreduction reaction provides a promising means to store intermittent renewable energy in the form of valuable chemicals and dispatchable fuels. Renewable methane produced using CO2 electroreduction attracts interest due to the established global distribution network; however, present-day efficiencies and activities remain below those required for practical application. Here we exploit the fact that the suppression of *CO dimerization and hydrogen evolution promotes methane selectivity: we reason that the introduction of Au in Cu favors *CO protonation vs. C−C coupling under low *CO coverage and weakens the *H adsorption energy of the surface, leading to a reduction in hydrogen evolution. We construct experimentally a suite of Au-Cu catalysts and control *CO availability by regulating CO2 concentration and reaction rate. This strategy leads to a 1.6× improvement in the methane:H2 selectivity ratio compared to the best prior reports operating above 100 mA cm−2. We as a result achieve a CO2-to-methane Faradaic efficiency (FE) of (56 ± 2)% at a production rate of (112 ± 4) mA cm−2.

Citation Format(s)

Gold-in-copper at low *CO coverage enables efficient electromethanation of CO2. / Wang, Xue; Ou, Pengfei; Wicks, Joshua et al.
In: Nature Communications, Vol. 12, 3387, 2021.

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

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