Ag-Precipitated CuO Nanospheres for Enhanced Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Abstract

An electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is an effective way to reduce greenhouse gases by converting CO2 into high-value-added chemical products using electricity generated from renewable energy. In this paper, a Cu2O spherical catalyst was prepared by ascorbic acid reduction. The precipitated Cu-Ag spherical catalyst (P-CuO-Ag) was successfully prepared by calcining Cu2O-Ag with the introduction of an Ag component as the substrate. During the electrochemical reduction of CO2, the FE of the P-CuO-Ag catalyst for C2H4 at a potential of −1.1 V vs. RHE was as high as 39.8%, which was nearly twice that of the CuO catalyst, while the local current density JC2H4 for C2H4 reached 6 mA cm−2. The incorporation of Ag gives the spherical CuO catalyst higher electrochemical activity and better kinetic performance than the catalyst without Ag.