Cu₂O Nanoparticles Wrapped by N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient Electroreduction of CO₂ to C₂ Products

Abstract

Electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to C₂ products (ethylene and ethanol) using efficient catalysts is a feasible approach to alleviate the climate crisis. Cuprous oxide nanoparticles (Cu₂O NPs) are a promising catalyst for C₂ production but suffer from inherent selectivity and durability. To address this challenge, a Cu₂O NPs-nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (Cu₂O NPs-NCNT) composite was prepared with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), Cu₂O NPs, and phthalocyanine (Pc). The results indicate that Cu₂O NPs-NCNT has excellent Faradic efficiency of C₂ products (77.61%) at -1.1 V vs RHE, which is 103.43% higher than that of Cu₂O NPs. In the potentiostatic electrolysis combined with Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements, Cu₂O NPs-NCNT exhibited structural and catalytic current stability over 10 h. Finally, density functional theory calculations combined with XPS demonstrated that the NCNT in Cu₂O NPs-NCNT can selectively absorb CO₂ through specific N-CO₂ interactions. Our work provides a unique strategy to promote the selectivity of Cu₂O NPs for C₂ production by introducing N-doped linear carbon materials to fabricate composite.