Exclusive production of acetone using a copper nanoparticle anchored LSCO perovskite electrocatalyst: cell design and metal–support interaction governed electrocatalysis

This study explores the enhancement of electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂ER) using a novel Cu nanoparticle decorated La_0.8Sr_0.2CoO₃ (LSCO) perovskite catalyst. The synthesized Cu/LSCO catalyst exhibits exceptional activity and selectivity for acetone production. A systematic variation in Cu loading revealed a non-linear trend in performance: faradaic efficiency (FE) increased from ∼40% for Cu 10/LSCO to a maximum of ∼93.7% for Cu 20/LSCO but significantly dropped to 7.5% for Cu 30/LSCO. Cu 20/LSCO also delivered a partial current density of -20.28 mA cm^-2, making it the most efficient composition. This behavior highlights the importance of optimal Cu loading, where enhanced nanoparticle dispersion and strong metal-support interaction (MSI) result in greater active site availability and improved catalytic performance. In contrast, excessive Cu loading leads to particle agglomeration, and diminished CO₂ER activity. Cu 20/LSCO also exhibited stable performance over 40 000 seconds, demonstrating its potential for prolonged CO₂ electroreduction and highlighting its viability for sustainable CO₂ conversion in renewable energy applications. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analysis confirmed the oxidation state and local coordination environment of Cu, providing critical mechanistic insight into the observed performance trend and the role of MSI. The Cu/LSCO catalyst, enhanced by metal-support interaction (MSI) along with the cell geometry, is an effective tool for high FE and liquid product selective electrocatalysis. Utilizing Cu or LSCO alone proves inefficient for CO₂ER indicating the role of MSI. This strategy can be a stepping stone for developing electrocatalysts for direct multicarbon products at low overpotentials.