Highly Efficient and Selective Electrocatalytic Semihydrogenation of Acetylene to Ethylene via Continuous Proton Feeding and Accelerated Transfer on Cu NP/FeNC Composite

Abstract

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene in aqueous electrolytes under ambient conditions faces efficiency and selectivity limitation due to the competitive formation of 1,3-butadiene and hydrogen. In this study, the development of a copper nanoparticle/FeNC composite catalyst is reported through a simple mechanical grinding approach that demonstrates remarkable performance, achieving a highest ethylene Faradaic efficiency of 97.7% at 180 mA cm−2 and selectivity of 92.6% at 200 mA cm−2. Experimental investigations reveal that Cu atoms serve as the active sites, and the integration of FeNC improves the specific surface area through its 2D nanosheet morphology. Further analysis utilizing in situ Raman measurements coupled with theoretical calculations confirms that FeNC accelerates water dissociation to provide abundant protons and improving their transfer, thereby suppressing 1,3-butadiene formation and elevating acetylene selectivity. Notably, the integration of FeNC also transforms the desorption of *C2H4 into an exothermic process, further facilitating ethylene production. Overall, this study introduces a simple and innovative preparation approach of composite catalysts for selective ethylene synthesis, expanding the application scope of Cu-based FeNC materials in various electrocatalytic hydrogenation reactions.