TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ma, Yao
AU  - Xiao, Taishi
AU  - Zhu, Kerun
AU  - Zhao, Dongyuan
AU  - Li, Wei
PY  - 2025
TI  - Cu nanoparticles embedded in fluorinated mesoporous carbon for enhanced CO2 electroreduction to C2 products
JO  - Carbon Future
SN  - 2960-0561
SP  - 9200034
VL  - 2
IS  - 1
AB  - The utilization of renewable electricity to drive the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) presents an attractive avenue for achieving carbon neutrality, as it facilitates the conversion of CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels. However, producing high-energy-density multi-carbon hydrocarbon products (C2+) still suffers from low selectivity, and the process proves highly sensitive to both catalyst structure and electrolyte conditions. Here, we report the synthesis of fluorinated mesoporous carbon-confined copper nanoparticles (Cu@F-MC) via a bottom-up molecular self-assembly and carbonization strategy. The Cu@F-MC catalyst established a two-dimensional (2D) mesoporous structure with well-dispersed 6.5 nm-wide mesopores and a high surface area. The confinement effect of mesoporous carbon enabled the small size and well dispersion of Cu nanoparticles (~ 10 nm). The fluorine-doped structure not only effectively inhibited the side hydrogen evolution reaction, but also modulated the local electronic structures of Cu nanoparticles toward multi-carbon product generation. Thus, the Cu@F-MC exhibited a high current density of 500 mA·cm−2 with an ethanol Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 40% for CO2 reduction in a flow cell, and a prolonged stability with over 50% selectivity for  FEC2+ during a 70h continuous electrolysis in the membrane electrode assembly test. This strategy offers a promising approach to concurrently improve the selectivity and stability of copper-based catalysts in CO2RR.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.26599/CF.2025.9200034
DO  - 10.26599/CF.2025.9200034