Built‐In Electric Field Triggered Interfacial Water Activation for Industrial‐Level Electrosynthesis of Ethylene from CO <sub>2</sub>
Abstract The electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to ethylene (C 2 H 4 ), as opposed to traditional industrial methods, stands out as an environmentally friendly benign and promising technical solution for producing value‐added chemicals using renewable electricity. Here, we introduce a built‐in electric field in La(OH) 3 ‐Cu (BEF@La(OH) 3 ‐Cu) electrocatalyst that can exclusively convert from CO 2 to C 2 H 4 with a maximum Faradaic efficiency of 84.2% and high intrinsic activity exceeding 842.0 mA cm −2 , while maintaining robust stability of 110 h. Furthermore, the corresponding C 2 H 4 formation rate and energy efficiency can reach 2618.0 µmol cm −2 h −1 and 31.2%, respectively. The BEF@La(OH) 3 ‐Cu electrocatalyst was constructed by stacking La(OH) 3 and Cu layers, forming a built‐in electric field induced by electron transfer between La→O←Cu. The electric field effectively triggered H 2 O dissociation on La(OH) 3 ‐Cu interface for supplying active hydrogen (*H) species, which promoted multiple protonation steps in the process of CO 2 ‐to‐C 2 H 4 conversion. The *H species then easily migrate to Cu sites, reducing the energy barrier for the conversion from *CO to *COH, thus enhancing the efficient asymmetric *CO−*COH coupling and ultimately boosting the C 2 H 4 production under ampere‐level operation.
Authors
- Weiwei Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1611-0202)
- Wenshan Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9841-6810)
- Doudou Liu
- Zhijun Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-1614-7092)
- Xianzhen Lang
- Qian Gong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7994-6629)
- Yanling Zhai
- Xiaoquan Lu
- Guixian Xie
Institutions
- Qingdao University (CN)
- Northwest Normal University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Angewandte Chemie
- Published
- 2025-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202517221
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.36