Ampere-Level Current Density CO2 Reduction with High C2+ Selectivity on La(OH)3-Modified Cu Catalysts

The carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) driven by electricity can transform CO2 into high-value multi-carbon (C2+) products. Copper (Cu)-based catalysts are efficient but suffer from low C2+ selectivity at high current densities. Here La(OH)(3) in Cu catalyst is introduced to modify its electronic structure towards efficient CO2RR to C2+ products at ampere-level current densities. The La(OH)(3)/Cu catalyst has a remarkable C2+ Faradaic efficiency (FEC2+) of 71.2% which is 2.2 times that of the pure Cu catalyst at a current density of 1,000 mA cm(-2) and keeps stable for 8 h. In situ spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations both show that La(OH)(3) modifies the electronic structure of Cu. This modification favors *CO adsorption, subsequent hydrogenation, *CO & horbar;*COH coupling, and consequently increases C2+ selectivity. This work provides a guidance on facilitating C2+ product formation, and suppressing hydrogen evolution by La(OH)(3) modification, enabling efficient CO2RR at ampere-level current densities.