Intimate atomic Cu-Ag interfaces for high CO2RR selectivity towards CH4 at low over potential

Abstract

Abstract Developing highly efficient electrochemical catalysts for carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) provides a solution to battle global warming issues resulting from ever-increasing carbon footprint due to human activities. Copper (Cu) is known for its efficiency in CO 2 RR towards value-added hydrocarbons; hence its unique structural properties along with various Cu alloys have been extensively explored in the past decade. Here, we demonstrate a two-step approach to achieve intimate atomic Cu-Ag interfaces on the surface of Cu nanowires, which show greatly improved CO 2 RR selectivity towards methane (CH 4 ). The specially designed Cu-Ag interfaces showed an impressive maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 72% towards CH 4 production at −1.17 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)).