Microfabricated electrodes unravel the role of interfaces in multicomponent copper-based CO2 reduction catalysts

The emergence of synergistic effects in multicomponent catalysts can result in breakthrough advances in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. Copper-indium catalysts show high performance toward carbon monoxide production but also extensive structural and compositional changes under opera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2018-04, Vol.9 (1), p.1-10, Article 1477
Main Authors: Larrazábal, Gastón O., Shinagawa, Tatsuya, Martín, Antonio J., Pérez-Ramírez, Javier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Bimetals
Carbon dioxide
Carbon monoxide
Catalysis
Catalysts
Chemical reduction
Copper
Copper oxides
Electrocatalysts
Electrochemistry
Electrodes
Humanities and Social Sciences
Indium
Interfaces
multidisciplinary
Optimization
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Synergistic effect
Tin
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Summary:The emergence of synergistic effects in multicomponent catalysts can result in breakthrough advances in the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide. Copper-indium catalysts show high performance toward carbon monoxide production but also extensive structural and compositional changes under operation. The origin of the synergistic effect and the nature of the active phase are not well understood, thus hindering optimization efforts. Here we develop a platform that sheds light into these aspects, based on microfabricated model electrodes that are evaluated under conventional experimental conditions. The relationship among the electrode performance, geometry and composition associates the high carbon monoxide evolution activity of copper-indium catalysts to indium-poor bimetallic phases, which are formed upon exposure to reaction conditions in the vicinity of the interfaces between copper oxide and an indium source. The exploratory extension of this approach to the copper-tin system demonstrates its versatility and potential for the study of complex multicomponent electrocatalysts. The development of efficient catalysts for electrochemical carbon dioxide conversion is hindered by a lack of rationalization. Here, authors use microfabricated electrodes to study the birth of active sites around interfaces in multicomponent copper-based catalysts during carbon dioxide reduction.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-03980-9