Metal‐Organic Framework‐Derived Partially Oxidized Cu Electrocatalysts for Efficient CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction Reaction Toward C<sub>2+</sub> Products
ABSTRACT Cu‐based metal‐organic frameworks (Cu‐MOFs) electrocatalysts are promising for CO 2 reduction reactions (CO 2 RR) to produce valuable C 2+ products. However, designing suitable active sites in Cu‐MOFs remains challenging due to their inherent structural instability during CO 2 RR. Here we propose a synergistic strategy through thermal annealing and electrochemical‐activation process for in‐situ reconstruction of the pre‐designed Cu‐MOFs to produce abundant partially oxidized Cu (Cu δ+ ) active species. The optimized MOF‐derived Cu δ+ electrocatalyst demonstrates a highly selective production of C 2+ products, with the Faradaic Efficiency (FE) of 78 ± 2% and a partial current density of −46 mA cm −2 at −1.06 V RHE in a standard H‐type cell. Our findings reveal that the optimized Cu δ+ ‐rich surface remains stable during electrolysis and enhances surface charge transfer, leading to an increase in the concentration of *CO intermediates, thereby highly selectively producing C 2+ compounds. This study advances the controllable formation of MOF‐derived Cu δ+ ‐rich surfaces and strengthens the understanding of their catalytic role in CO 2 RR for C 2+ products.
Authors
- Hongwen Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3967-6182)
- Juhee Jang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0644-0149)
- Minhua Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4496-0057)
- Ernest Pahuyo Delmo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5913-7624)
- Jingjie Ge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1075-9649)
- Shangqian Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5813-9588)
- Tiehuai Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6398-0638)
- Yinuo Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5357-361X)
- Zhiyi Sun
- Daniel H. C. Wan
- Wenxing Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4571-7622)
- Yushen Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5698-6572)
Institutions
- Beijing Institute of Technology (CN)
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HK)
- Hunan University (CN)
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)
- Chinese National Engineering Research Center for Control and Treatment of Heavy Metal Pollution (CN)
- Guangzhou HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute (CN)
- University College London (GB)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Carbon Energy
- Published
- 2025-06-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.70019
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.18
Funders
- City University of Hong Kong
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Innovation and Technology Commission
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau
- Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation of Guangdong Province