Ag-Mediated Growth of Au/Ag-Cu Ternary Heterostructures for Selective Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Wenhao Xu; Taishi Xiao; Jie Chen; Junxiang Shu; Jili Li; Yao Ma; Xiang Li; Zihan Zhong; Zitao Zhang; Yefei Li; Qing Zhang; Zhengzong Sun; Yun Tang

doi:10.1021/acsami.4c12952

Ag-Mediated Growth of Au/Ag-Cu Ternary Heterostructures for Selective Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2024 Oct 23;16(42):57162-57170. doi: 10.1021/acsami.4c12952. Epub 2024 Oct 14.

Authors

Wenhao Xu¹, Taishi Xiao^{1

2}, Jie Chen¹, Junxiang Shu^{1

2}, Jili Li³, Yao Ma¹, Xiang Li¹, Zihan Zhong¹, Zitao Zhang¹, Yefei Li³, Qing Zhang⁴, Zhengzong Sun^{1

2}, Yun Tang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
² Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, School of Microelectronics and State Key Laboratory of ASIC and System, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China.
³ Department of Chemistry, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Catalysis and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
⁴ Shanghai Key Laboratory of High-resolution Electron Microscopy, School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.

PMID: 39401287
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.4c12952

Abstract

Copper (Cu)-based nanocatalysts play crucial roles in the electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (ECO₂RR) for sustainable energy resources. Particularly, Cu-based nanostructures incorporating Au and Ag are promising, offering enhanced activity, selectivity, and stability. However, precise control over the structure and composition of heterostructures remains challenging, hindering the development of highly efficient catalysts. Herein, we present a silver (Ag) transition-layer-mediated approach to synthesize ternary heterostructures with two specific morphologies, namely, Au/Ag-Cu-side and Au/Ag-Cu-tip, which exhibit different Ag-Cu interface epitaxial patterns. The two heterostructures achieve high C2 product selectivity in ECO₂RR. Especially, the Au/Ag-Cu-side structure achieves 50.3% C2 selectivity with 35.5% ethanol, while the tip structure shows higher ethylene selectivity. Our study reveals the impact of the Ag layer in directing deposition sites on heterostructure growth and further facilitating the design of multicomponent Cu-based catalysts with enhanced structural integrity and ECO₂RR performance.

Keywords: Cu-based nanostructures; ECO2RR; metal–metal interface; seed-mediated growth; ternary heterostructure.