Electrocatalysis with the aim of converting electrical energy from sustainable sources into synthetic fuels or base chemicals for industrial production has become an important field in research.
(1−3) One interesting electrochemical reaction in that context is the direct electrochemical hydrogenation of CO
2 that not only allows storing renewable energy but also helps to close the anthropogenic carbon cycle.
(4−9)Since the pioneering work of Hori in the 1980s,(10) Cu remains the only pure metal that can convert CO2 to higher-value products like higher hydrocarbons and their alcohols in significant amounts. Despite many years of research, the reason for this unique behavior is not yet fully understood, and considerable effort is therefore devoted to elucidate the fundamental electrochemical properties of various Cu-model systems (see Nitopi et al. and references therein(9)).
Aarti Tiwari, Thomas Maagaard, Ib Chorkendorff and Sebastian Horch
ACS Energy Lett. 2019, 4, 7
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