Surface/interface reconstruction in-situ on Cu2O catalysts with high exponential facets toward enhanced electrocatalysis CO2 reduction to C2+ products

Converting CO 2 to value-added chemicals and fuels by the electrocatalytic reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is a promising strategy for reducing CO 2 emissions and achieving clean energy storage. Herein, Cu 2 O catalysts with various morphologies (hexapod concave rhombic dodecahedrons microcrystals enclosed with (3   3   1), (1   1   1) and (1   0   0) facets (D-Cu 2 O), cubic microcrystals enclosed with (1   0   0) facet (C-Cu 2 O) and octahedron microcrystals with (1   1   1) and (1   0   0) facets (O-Cu 2 O)) are prepared via the wet chemical reduction method. The in-situ formation of D-Cu 2 O/Cu, C-Cu 2 O/Cu and O-Cu 2 O/Cu surface/interface and the conversion mechanism of CO 2 to C 2+ products have been systematically studied. The electrocatalytic performance of D-Cu 2 O/Cu for CO 2 to form C 2+ products is superior to that of C-Cu 2 O/Cu and O-Cu 2 O/Cu, which the Faraday efficiencies (FE) of C 2+ products (ethylene and ethanol) reaches 70 %. The experimental results combined in-situ Raman spectroscopy and density function theory (DFT) calculations demonstrate that the good electrochemical performance is relate to the surface reconstruction and facet interface, which provides a positive local electronic environment to enhance the adsorption of *CO intermediates and reduces the energy barrier for the activation the C C coupling. This study will provide a new approach to improve the selectivity of CO 2 RR by interface engineering and surface.