Experimental study demonstrates enhanced multicarbon product selectivity during CO2 electroreduction with hybrid copper catalysts, highlighting microenvironment modulation.
Key Points
Develop a hybrid electrocatalyst combining copper nanowires and a covalent organic framework to improve CO2 adsorption, intermediate coverage, and selectivity toward multi-carbon (C2+) products.
Synthesized a hybrid catalyst structure composed of copper nanowires coated with a covalent organic framework (Cu NWs@COF).
Evaluated electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction performance across alkaline, neutral, and acidic electrolytes.
Achieved a Faradaic efficiency of 77% for C2+ products with a current density of 227.4 mA cm⁻² in alkaline electrolyte, outperforming unmodified copper nanowires.
Demonstrated enhanced C2+ selectivity in both acidic and neutral electrolytes alongside alkaline media.
Identified that the COF layer strengthens CO2 and *CO intermediate adsorption while lowering the activation barrier for C–C coupling.