Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products

Guozhi Wang; Yangbo Ma; Mingzi Sun; Fengkun Hao; Qianhui Wei; Yunhao Wang; Juan Wang; Fu Liu; Xiang Meng; Liang Guo; Mingzheng Shao; Chaohui Wang; Shuheng Hao; Pengyi Lu; Yuecheng Xiong; Yanwei Lum; Shengqi Chu; Bolong Huang; Zhanxi Fan

doi:10.1002/adma.73600

Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products

Guozhi Wang (Co-first Author)
, Yangbo Ma (Co-first Author)
, Mingzi Sun (Co-first Author)
, Fengkun Hao
, Qianhui Wei^*
, Yunhao Wang
, Juan Wang
, Fu Liu
, Xiang Meng
, Liang Guo
, Mingzheng Shao
, Chaohui Wang
, Shuheng Hao
, Pengyi Lu
, Yuecheng Xiong
, Yanwei Lum
, Shengqi Chu
, Bolong Huang^*
, Zhanxi Fan^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

Copper nanomaterials with the common face-centered cubic (fcc) phase have been widely used in the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction reaction (CO₂RR). However, copper with an unconventional phase is rarely reported as it is thermodynamically unfavorable. Here, through analyzing the strain within copper nanowires, we reveal the phase transition of copper from fcc to body-centered tetragonal (bct)/fcc heterophase. By systematically investigating copper nanowires with different diameters and copper nanocubes in CO₂RR, we explain the relationship between their crystal phase and catalytic performance. Compared with the standard fcc lattice, copper nanowires’ surfaces have different electron states due to a phase transition. Copper nanowires with a diameter of about 30 nm exhibit the optimum catalytic performance, and their Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products is much higher than that of fcc copper nanocubes. Theoretical calculations have demonstrated that the presence of the strained bct phase induces significant upshifts of the d-band center, which not only improves the overall electroactivity but also optimize the C-C couplings, leading to improved Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products during CO₂RR. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Original language	English
Article number	e73600
Journal	Advanced Materials
Online published	2 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73600
Publication status	Online published - 2 Jun 2026

Funding

This work was supported by the grant from National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 22175148), grant from Research Grants Council of Hong Kong (Project No. 21309322), grant from Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (Project No. JCYJ20250604184510013), ITC via Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center, grants from City University of Hong Kong (Project No. 9610480, 9610663, 7020103, 7006007, and 9680301), and grant from Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (Project No. 2024A1515140004). Y.L. acknowledges funding from the research project (Development of advanced catalysts for electrochemical carbon abatement; Project Code: c) is part of the CREATE Thematic Programme in Decarbonisation and is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 13 Climate Action

Research Keywords

carbon dioxide reduction reaction
crystal phase
electrocatalysis
metal nanomaterials
multi-carbon products

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

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10.1002/adma.73600

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Wang, G., Ma, Y., Sun, M., Hao, F., Wei, Q., Wang, Y., Wang, J., Liu, F., Meng, X., Guo, L., Shao, M., Wang, C., Hao, S., Lu, P., Xiong, Y., Lum, Y., Chu, S., Huang, B., & Fan, Z. (2026). Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products. Advanced Materials, Article e73600. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73600

@article{4686eb5f85294654b85b0769106be4eb,

title = "Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products",

abstract = "Copper nanomaterials with the common face-centered cubic (fcc) phase have been widely used in the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, copper with an unconventional phase is rarely reported as it is thermodynamically unfavorable. Here, through analyzing the strain within copper nanowires, we reveal the phase transition of copper from fcc to body-centered tetragonal (bct)/fcc heterophase. By systematically investigating copper nanowires with different diameters and copper nanocubes in CO2RR, we explain the relationship between their crystal phase and catalytic performance. Compared with the standard fcc lattice, copper nanowires{\textquoteright} surfaces have different electron states due to a phase transition. Copper nanowires with a diameter of about 30 nm exhibit the optimum catalytic performance, and their Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products is much higher than that of fcc copper nanocubes. Theoretical calculations have demonstrated that the presence of the strained bct phase induces significant upshifts of the d-band center, which not only improves the overall electroactivity but also optimize the C-C couplings, leading to improved Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products during CO2RR. {\textcopyright} 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.",

keywords = "carbon dioxide reduction reaction, crystal phase, electrocatalysis, metal nanomaterials, multi-carbon products",

author = "Guozhi Wang and Yangbo Ma and Mingzi Sun and Fengkun Hao and Qianhui Wei and Yunhao Wang and Juan Wang and Fu Liu and Xiang Meng and Liang Guo and Mingzheng Shao and Chaohui Wang and Shuheng Hao and Pengyi Lu and Yuecheng Xiong and Yanwei Lum and Shengqi Chu and Bolong Huang and Zhanxi Fan",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1002/adma.73600",

language = "English",

journal = "Advanced Materials",

issn = "0935-9648",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

}

Wang, G , Ma, Y, Sun, M, Hao, F, Wei, Q, Wang, Y , Wang, J , Liu, F , Meng, X , Guo, L , Shao, M , Wang, C, Hao, S, Lu, P , Xiong, Y, Lum, Y, Chu, S, Huang, B & Fan, Z 2026, 'Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products', Advanced Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.73600

Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products. / Wang, Guozhi (Co-first Author); Ma, Yangbo (Co-first Author); Sun, Mingzi (Co-first Author) et al.
In: Advanced Materials, 02.06.2026.

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products

AU - Wang, Guozhi

AU - Ma, Yangbo

AU - Sun, Mingzi

AU - Hao, Fengkun

AU - Wei, Qianhui

AU - Wang, Yunhao

AU - Wang, Juan

AU - Liu, Fu

AU - Meng, Xiang

AU - Guo, Liang

AU - Shao, Mingzheng

AU - Wang, Chaohui

AU - Hao, Shuheng

AU - Lu, Pengyi

AU - Xiong, Yuecheng

AU - Lum, Yanwei

AU - Chu, Shengqi

AU - Huang, Bolong

AU - Fan, Zhanxi

PY - 2026/6/2

Y1 - 2026/6/2

N2 - Copper nanomaterials with the common face-centered cubic (fcc) phase have been widely used in the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, copper with an unconventional phase is rarely reported as it is thermodynamically unfavorable. Here, through analyzing the strain within copper nanowires, we reveal the phase transition of copper from fcc to body-centered tetragonal (bct)/fcc heterophase. By systematically investigating copper nanowires with different diameters and copper nanocubes in CO2RR, we explain the relationship between their crystal phase and catalytic performance. Compared with the standard fcc lattice, copper nanowires’ surfaces have different electron states due to a phase transition. Copper nanowires with a diameter of about 30 nm exhibit the optimum catalytic performance, and their Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products is much higher than that of fcc copper nanocubes. Theoretical calculations have demonstrated that the presence of the strained bct phase induces significant upshifts of the d-band center, which not only improves the overall electroactivity but also optimize the C-C couplings, leading to improved Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products during CO2RR. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

AB - Copper nanomaterials with the common face-centered cubic (fcc) phase have been widely used in the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, copper with an unconventional phase is rarely reported as it is thermodynamically unfavorable. Here, through analyzing the strain within copper nanowires, we reveal the phase transition of copper from fcc to body-centered tetragonal (bct)/fcc heterophase. By systematically investigating copper nanowires with different diameters and copper nanocubes in CO2RR, we explain the relationship between their crystal phase and catalytic performance. Compared with the standard fcc lattice, copper nanowires’ surfaces have different electron states due to a phase transition. Copper nanowires with a diameter of about 30 nm exhibit the optimum catalytic performance, and their Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products is much higher than that of fcc copper nanocubes. Theoretical calculations have demonstrated that the presence of the strained bct phase induces significant upshifts of the d-band center, which not only improves the overall electroactivity but also optimize the C-C couplings, leading to improved Faradaic efficiency of multi-carbon products during CO2RR. © 2026 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

KW - carbon dioxide reduction reaction

KW - crystal phase

KW - electrocatalysis

KW - metal nanomaterials

KW - multi-carbon products

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105040747065&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105040747065&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1002/adma.73600

DO - 10.1002/adma.73600

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0935-9648

JO - Advanced Materials

JF - Advanced Materials

M1 - e73600

ER -

Stabilization of Unconventional Body-Centered Tetragonal Phase in Copper Nanowires for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction to Multi-Carbon Products

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

Research Keywords

RGC Funding Information

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