Steering electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction to alcohol production on Cu step sites

Electrochemical CO2 reduction is a sustainable method for producing multicarbon alcohols. However, the selectivity of alcohols is limited owing to the favorable side reaction to convert the key intermediate of *CH2CHO into ethylene. This study describes the design of a Cu electrocatalyst with abundant step sites to suppress the deoxygenation of *CH2CHO to ethylene, thereby promoting alcohol production. A Faradic efficiency of 40.5% and partial current density of 56.3 mA/cm(2) for alcohols are achieved. Moreover, the alcohols/C2H4 ratio in the products reaches approximately 2.2. In-situ infrared spectrum characterizations and theoretical calculations reveal that the step sites facilitate C-C coupling and direct the reaction pathway to promote the formation of alcohols by inhibiting the cleavage of the C-O bond in *CH2CHO. Therefore, the proposed strategy is efficient for designing active sites to steer reaction pathways in CO2 electroreductions and produce alcohols. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.