Strained Lattice Gold-Copper Alloy Nanoparticles for Efficient Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction

Abstract

Electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into specific renewable fuels is an attractive way to mitigate the greenhouse effect and solve the energy crisis. AunCu100-n/C alloy nanoparticles (AunCu100−n/C NPs) with tunable compositions, a highly active crystal plane and a strained lattice were synthesized by the thermal solvent co-reduction method. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) results show that AunCu100−n/C catalysts display a subtle lattice strain and dominant (111) crystal plane, which can be adjusted by the alloy composition. Electrochemical results show that AunCu100−n/C alloy catalysts for CO2 reduction display high catalytic activity; in particular, the Faradaic efficiency of Au75Cu25/C is up to 92.6% for CO at −0.7 V (vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode), which is related to lattice shrinkage and the active facet. This research provides a new strategy with which to design strong and active nanoalloy catalysts with lattice mismatch and main active surfaces for CO2 reduction reaction.