Electrodeposited Copper Nanocatalysts for CO2 Electroreduction: Effect of Electrodeposition Conditions on Catalysts’ Morphology and Selectivity

Catalytic electroreduction of carbon dioxide represents a promising technology both to reduce CO2 emissions and store electrical energy from discontinuous sources. In this work, electrochemical deposition copper on gas-diffusion support was tested as scalable versatile nanosynthesis technique for the production catalytic electrodes electroreduction. The effect current density additives (DAT, DTAB, PEG) catalysts’ structure evaluated. selectivity synthesized catalysts towards CO evaluated by analyzing gaseous products obtained using cathodes in tests. Catalyst morphology deeply influenced additives. Copper nanospheres, hemispherical microaggregates nanowires, shapeless structures were electrodeposited presence dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (DTAB), 3,5-diamino-1,2,4-triazole (DAT) polyethylene glycol (PEG), respectively. catalyst also observed it found be additive-specific. DTAB nanostructured showed highest production, probably attributable higher specific surface area. EDX XPS analysis disclosed residual DAT uniformly distributed onto structure. No significant effects electrodeposition Cu(I)/Cu(II) ratio found. particular, yielded comparable selectivity, although they characterized lowest ratio,