Highly selective plasma-activated copper catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction to ethylene [electronic resource].
- Published:
- Washington, D.C. : United States. Dept. of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences, 2016.
Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy - Physical Description:
- Article numbers 12,123 : digital, PDF file
- Additional Creators:
- United States. Department of Energy. Office of Basic Energy Sciences and United States. Department of Energy. Office of Scientific and Technical Information
Access Online
- Restrictions on Access:
- Free-to-read Unrestricted online access
- Summary:
- There is an urgent need to develop technologies that use renewable energy to convert waste products such as carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuels. Carbon dioxide can be electrochemically reduced to hydrocarbons over copper catalysts, although higher efficiency is required. We have developed oxidized copper catalysts displaying lower overpotentials for carbon dioxide electroreduction and record selectivity towards ethylene (60%) through facile and tunable plasma treatments. Herein we provide insight into the improved performance of these catalysts by combining electrochemical measurements with microscopic and spectroscopic characterization techniques. Operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy and cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy show that copper oxides are surprisingly resistant to reduction and copper+ species remain on the surface during the reaction. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that the roughness of oxide-derived copper catalysts plays only a partial role in determining the catalytic performance, while the presence of copper+ is key for lowering the onset potential and enhancing ethylene selectivity.
- Report Numbers:
- E 1.99:1310260
- Subject(s):
- Note:
- Published through SciTech Connect.
06/30/2016.
"ncomms12123"
Nature Communications 7 ISSN 2041-1723 AM
Mistry, Hemma; Varela, Ana; Bonifacio, Cecile; Zegkinoglou, Ioannis; Sinev, Ilya; Choi, Yong-Wook; Kisslinger, Kim; Stach, Eric; Yang, Judith; Strasser, Peter; Cuenya, Beatriz.
Univ. of Central Florida Research Foundation, Orlando, FL (United States) - Funding Information:
- FG02-08ER15995
View MARC record | catkey: 24045955