Copper nanoparticle ensembles for selective electroreduction of CO ₂ to C ₂ –C ₃ products

Significance Electrochemical conversion of CO 2 to carbon-based products, which can be used directly as fuels or indirectly as fuel precursors, is suggested as one of the promising solutions for sustainability. Not only does this process allow using renewables such as solar electricity as energy input, but CO 2 emitted from the consumption process can be recycled back into fuels. The success of this technology depends on the value added to the product that forms from CO 2 , and therefore it is important to facilitate multicarbon product generation. This work presents a copper-based catalyst, formed in situ from an ensemble of nanoparticles, that is able to selectively generate C 2 –C 3 products at low overpotentials with good stability, where their efficient formation has been difficult to achieve.