Integration of Cobalt Phthalocyanine, Acetylene Black and Cu2O Nanocubes for Efficient Electroreduction of CO2 to C2H4

Suppressing side reactions and simultaneously enriching key intermediates during CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) has been a challenge. Here, we propose a tandem catalyst (Cu2O NCs-C-Copc) consisting of acetylene black, cobalt phthalocyanine (Copc) and cuprous oxide nanocubes (Cu2O NCs) for efficient CO2-to-ethylene conversion. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculation combined with experimental verification demonstrated that Copc can provide abundant CO to nearby copper sites while acetylene black successfully reduces the formation energies of key intermediates, leading to enhanced C2H4 selectivity. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and potentiostatic tests indicated that the catalytic stability of Cu2O NCs-C-Copc was significantly enhanced compared with Cu2O NCs. Finally, the industrial application prospect of the catalyst was evaluated using gas diffusion electrolyzers. The FEC2H4 ${{\rm { F}}{{\rm { E}}}_{{{\rm { C}}}_{{\rm { 2}}}{{\rm { H}}}_{{\rm { 4}}}}}$ of Cu2O NCs-C-Copc can reach to 58.4 % at -1.1 V vs. RHE in 0.1 M KHCO3 and 70.3 % at -0.76 V vs. RHE in 1.0 M KOH. This study sheds new light on the design and development of highly efficient CO2RR tandem catalytic systems.