Improving CO₂ reduction performance towards C₂ products on a bimetallic Zn₁Cu_x/NC electrocatalyst

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to multi-carbon (C₂) compounds presents an innovative strategy for the valorization of renewable energy into essential chemicals and fuels. However, the sluggish dynamics of carbon−carbon (C−C) coupling reaction directly impacts the efficiency and selectivity towards C₂ products. Herein, we introduce a practical electrocatalytic design leveraging asymmetric *CO adsorption to facilitate C−C linkage. The synthesized a bimetallic catalyst, composed of single-atom zinc and copper clusters (Cu₄), uniformly anchored on nitrogen-doped graphene (Zn₁Cu_x/NC). In-situ Raman spectroscopy and theoretical calculations revealed that the high *CO coverage promoted the C−C coupling reaction. Moreover, optimizing the anodic reaction environment further augments C₂ product yields. Notably, this catalytic system achieves a high CO₂-to-C₂ conversion yield of 84.9% at a commercially relevant current density of −100 mA/cm², alongside urea oxidation reaction at the anode, making a significant progress in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to valuable C₂ products.