Electro Fabrication of Copper Oxide-Embedded Conducting Polymer-Based Electrode for Tunable Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Valorization of CO2 electroreduction (CO2ER) is an attractive strategy to mitigate environmental as well as energy challenges. Therefore, in this work, a hassle-free electrochemical technique is employed to coat the surface of the electrode (GCE/MW) with a copper oxide-embedded poly O-phenylenediamine electrocatalyst (GCE/MW@COPD). The presence of the basic amine moiety imparts an inherent ability to the electrode to attract and adsorb the CO2 flux in solution. By this design, the GCE/MW@COPD electrode achieved a remarkable ∼85% F.E. for the production of alcohols at −0.9 V vs RHE. A series of characterizations conducted pre- and post electrolysis reveal that the electrode could achieve a smooth transition from C1 to C2 products (F.E. of ∼30%) due to physical and chemical evolution of the microenvironment of the embedded copper component. This work presents a new approach for the synthesis of economic and dynamic catalyst systems for CO2ER applications.