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Nano Research Energy 2022, 1: 9120033 https://doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120033
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 29 September 2022

In-situ grown CuOx nanowire forest on copper foam: A 3D hierarchical and freestanding electrocatalyst with enhanced carbonaceous product selectivity in CO2 reduction

Show Author's Information Wenjun Zhang1,2,  Minghang Jiang1,3,4,  Songyuan Yang1,3,4,  Yi Hu1,3,4,  Bin Mu5( ),  Zuoxiu Tie1,3,4( ),  Zhong Jin1,3,4( )
MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Nanjing Tieming Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Nanjing 210093, China
Suzhou Tierui New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Suzhou 215228, China
School for Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy, Arizona State University, 501 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Keywords:
surface reconstruction, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, CuOx nanowire forest 3D hierarchical nanostructure, enhanced carbonaceous product selectivity
Cite this article:
Zhang W, Jiang M, Yang S, et al. In-situ grown CuOx nanowire forest on copper foam: A 3D hierarchical and freestanding electrocatalyst with enhanced carbonaceous product selectivity in CO2 reduction. Nano Research Energy, 2022, 1: 9120033. https://doi.org/10.26599/NRE.2022.9120033
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction is considered as an economical and environmentally friendly approach to neutralizing and recycling greenhouse gas CO2. However, the design of preeminent and robust electrocatalysts for CO2 electroreduction is still challenging. Herein, we report the in-situ growth of dense CuOx nanowire forest on 3D porous Cu foam (CuOx-NWF@Cu-F), which can be directly applied as a freestanding and binder-free working electrode for highly effective electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. By adjusting the surface morphology and chemical composition of CuOx nanowires via surface reconstruction, large electrochemically active surface area and abundant Cu(+1) sites were generated, leading to remarkable activity for CO2 electroreduction. The as-prepared hierarchical conductive electrode exhibited an enhanced Faradaic efficiency of 15.0% for ethanol formation (FEC2H5OH) and a total Faradaic efficiency of 69.4% for all carbonaceous compounds (FEC-total) at a mild applied potential of –0.45 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M KHCO3 electrolyte. It achieved a 4-fold increase in FEC-total than that of Cu nanowire forest supported on 3D porous Cu foam (Cu-NWF@Cu-F) obtained by in-situ reduction of the CuOx-NWF@Cu-F via annealing at H2 atmosphere, and thereby effectively suppressed the hydrogen evolution side-reaction.


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About this article

In-situ grown CuOx nanowire forest on copper foam: A 3D hierarchical and freestanding electrocatalyst with enhanced carbonaceous product selectivity in CO2 reduction

Show Author's information Wenjun Zhang1,2, Minghang Jiang1,3,4, Songyuan Yang1,3,4, Yi Hu1,3,4, Bin Mu5( ), Zuoxiu Tie1,3,4( ), Zhong Jin1,3,4( )
MOE Key Laboratory of Mesoscopic Chemistry, MOE Key Laboratory of High Performance Polymer Materials and Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Advanced Organic Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, International Innovation Center for Forest Chemicals and Materials, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Nanjing Tieming Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Nanjing 210093, China
Suzhou Tierui New Energy Technology Co. Ltd., Suzhou 215228, China
School for Engineering of Matter, Transport, and Energy, Arizona State University, 501 East Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA

Abstract

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction is considered as an economical and environmentally friendly approach to neutralizing and recycling greenhouse gas CO2. However, the design of preeminent and robust electrocatalysts for CO2 electroreduction is still challenging. Herein, we report the in-situ growth of dense CuOx nanowire forest on 3D porous Cu foam (CuOx-NWF@Cu-F), which can be directly applied as a freestanding and binder-free working electrode for highly effective electrocatalytic CO2 reduction. By adjusting the surface morphology and chemical composition of CuOx nanowires via surface reconstruction, large electrochemically active surface area and abundant Cu(+1) sites were generated, leading to remarkable activity for CO2 electroreduction. The as-prepared hierarchical conductive electrode exhibited an enhanced Faradaic efficiency of 15.0% for ethanol formation (FEC2H5OH) and a total Faradaic efficiency of 69.4% for all carbonaceous compounds (FEC-total) at a mild applied potential of –0.45 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M KHCO3 electrolyte. It achieved a 4-fold increase in FEC-total than that of Cu nanowire forest supported on 3D porous Cu foam (Cu-NWF@Cu-F) obtained by in-situ reduction of the CuOx-NWF@Cu-F via annealing at H2 atmosphere, and thereby effectively suppressed the hydrogen evolution side-reaction.

Keywords: surface reconstruction, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, CuOx nanowire forest 3D hierarchical nanostructure, enhanced carbonaceous product selectivity

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Received: 03 March 2022
Revised: 06 May 2022
Accepted: 09 May 2022
Published: 29 September 2022
Issue date: December 2022

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© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

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