Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Ethane through Stabilization of an Ethoxy Intermediate

to ethane mechanism. With trace iodine species on the surface and positively charged Cu species, production of ethane is significantly more favored on ID-Cu compared to OD-Cu, with higher selectivity and faster kinetics. For the first time, it is experimentally found that the formation of ethane follows the same pathway to ethylene and ethanol, and better stabilization of the late stage ethoxy intermediate can steer the reaction to ethane over ethanol.