Recent advances on enhancing the multicarbon selectivity of nanostructured Cu-based catalysts

Abstract

The rapid development and affordability of renewable energy sources necessitate innovative energy storage technologies to compensate for their intermittency. The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ presents an attractive strategy for renewable energy storage, with considerable advancements in recent years. Copper-based catalysts have spearheaded this progress due to their intrinsic ability to produce valuable multicarbon reaction products. However, Cu is inherently unselective, and considerable efforts are needed to achieve the selective production of multicarbon reaction products on Cu-based catalysts. A multitude of factors affect the selectivity of Cu-catalysts, such as morphology, metal co-catalysts, and incorporation of oxidizing agents. In this review, we have summarized the current progress and the most important strategies for tuning the selectivity towards multicarbon reaction products over nanostructured Cu-based catalysts.