The importance of surface morphology in controlling the selectivity of polycrystalline copper for CO2 electroreduction

Authors: 
Wei Tang, Andrew A. Peterson, Ana Sofia Varela, Zarko P. Jovanov, Lone Bech, William J. Durand, Søren Dahl, Jens K. Nørskov, Ib Chorkendorff
Year of publication: 
2012
Journal: 
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

This communication examines the effect of the surface morphology of polycrystalline copper on electroreduction of CO2. We find that a copper nanoparticle covered electrode shows better selectivity towards hydrocarbons compared with the two other studied surfaces, an electropolished copper electrode and an argon sputtered copper electrode. Density functional theory calculations provide insight into the surface morphology effect.

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