Electrochemical deposition of Cu/Cu2O nanostructures for enhanced CO2 reduction reaction

Abstract: We synthesized a dendritic-like Cu/Cu2O nanocomposite using a facile electrochemical deposition method on functionalized carbon cloth. which revealed the formation of a dendritic structure nanocomposite. Similarly, electrochemical properties were also studied using cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry. The Results demonstrated that the electrocatalyst exhibited excellent performance in the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to ethene. Specifically, the Faradaic efficiency (FE) at a shorter deposition time (250 seconds) reached 85.63%, with 62.08% for C2 products, at a current density of 63.57 mA/cm2 at -0.97 V versus RHE in H-type cells. The electrochemically active surface area was calculated to be 41.95 cm2. The enhanced catalytic activity was attributed to the synergistic effects between Cu+ and Cu0, which increased the number of active sites, facilitated faster electron transfer, and improved CO2 adsorption capacity.