Facilitating CO2 electroreduction to C2H4 through facile regulating {100} & {111} grain boundary of Cu2O

The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction provides a promising route to alleviate the greenhouse effect and energy crisis. We investigated the influencing factors that conversion of CO 2 to C 2 H 4 by preparing Cu 2 O nanoparticles (Cu 2 O-p, Cu 2 O-2p, and Cu 2 O-3p) with exposed different crystal facets, sizes, and grain boundaries. Impressively, the Cu 2 O-3p catalyst exhibits superior selectivity (57.8%) for C 2 H 4 generation due to its abundant {100} & {111} grain boundaries. The study demonstrated that rich grain boundaries have a significant effect on C C coupling for electrocatalysis CO 2 reduction, and offered a learnable route for high-efficient CO 2 reduction catalysts by regulating grain boundary.