Time-Resolved Spectral Footage of CO2 Electroreduction on Copper Catalysts
Jim de Ruiter a, Hongyu An a, Bert Weckhuysen a, Ward van der Stam a
a Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Utrecht University
Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)
Proceedings of nanoGe Fall Meeting 2021 (NFM21)
#SolFuel21. Solar Fuel: In-situ and operando characterization of electrified interfaces
Online, Spain, 2021 October 18th - 22nd
Organizers: Bastian Mei, Jan Philipp Hofmann and María Escudero-Escribano
Poster, Jim de Ruiter, 079
Publication date: 23rd September 2021
ePoster: 

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 on copper catalysts has proven to be unique and complex, as copper is the only known metal that can induce C-C coupling enabling it to produce C2+ products such as ethylene and ethanol. This versatility offers on the one hand a lot of potential in CO2 valorization but on the other hand brings complexity in understanding the underlying chemical process. We have used in situ time-resolved surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TR-SERS) to monitor catalyst reconstruction and formation of intermediates on the copper surface as function of potential and time. We have used  electrodeposited copper dendrites (CuED) as cathode, which increases the roughness of the surface resulting in significantly enhanced Raman signal. With this technique we were able to record a ‘time-lapse’ of various surface events by assigning specific surface species to the detected potential and time-dependent vibrations which allowed us to elucidate low overpotential CO2 activation.

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