Ultrastable Cu Catalyst for CO₂ Electroreduction to Multicarbon Liquid Fuels by Tuning C–C Coupling with CuTi Subsurface

Abstract

Production of multicarbon (C₂₊ ) liquid fuels is a challenging task for electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction, mainly limited by the stabilization of reaction intermediates and their subsequent C-C couplings. In this work, we report a unique catalyst, the coordinatively unsaturated Cu sites on amorphous CuTi alloy (a-CuTi@Cu) toward electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction to multicarbon (C_2-4 ) liquid fuels. Remarkably, the electrocatalyst yields ethanol, acetone, and n-butanol as major products with a total C_2-4 faradaic efficiency of about 49 % at -0.8 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which can be maintained for at least 3 months. Theoretical simulations and in situ characterization reveals that subsurface Ti atoms can increase the electron density of surface Cu sites and enhance the adsorption of *CO intermediate, which in turn reduces the energy barriers required for *CO dimerization and trimerization.