Fig. 2: CO2RR performance and post-CO2RR characterization of Cu NCs and Cu@AlOx NCs.
From: Hybrid oxide coatings generate stable Cu catalysts for CO2 electroreduction
a,b, Total FEs for all gaseous products (that is, H2, CO, CH4 and C2H4) and the main liquid products (that is, HCOO−, C2H5OH and 1-propanol) of the as-synthesized Cu NCs (a) and of the Cu@AlOxn=17 NCs (b). The data are the average of three independent experiments, and the error bars are the calculated standard deviation. c, Temporal evolution of the FE for methane for as-synthesized Cu NCs (black) and Cu@AlOxn=17 NCs (blue) at −1.1 V versus RHE. The data are the average of six measurements (every 2 h), and the error bars are the calculated standard deviation. d, Representative BF-TEM image of Cu NCs and Cu@AlOxn=17 NCs before (left) and after 4 h CO2RR at −1.1 V versus RHE (right), respectively. Scale bars, 50 nm. The as-synthesized Cu NCs transform into aggregated structures, with copper oxide cubes forming upon air exposure, consistently with previous literature16,17,18,19. e, FT-IR spectra of Cu NCs and Cu@AlOxn=17 post-4 h of chronoamperometry at −1.1 V versus RHE.
