Improved electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to multicarbon products by using molecular doping

This paper presents a strategy to enhance the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into multicarbon products by modifying the surface of a bimetallic silver-copper catalyst with aromatic heterocycles. The electron-withdrawing nature of these functional groups (thiadiazole and triazole derivatives) orients the reaction pathway towards C₂⁺ species (ethanol and ethylene) and increases the reaction rate. The resulting catalyst achieves a high Faradaic efficiency for C₂⁺ formation (≈80%) and a full-cell energy efficiency of 20.3% with a specific current density of 261.4 mA cm⁻² for C₂⁺ products.

Huali Wu, Ji Li, Kun Qi, Yang Zhang, Eddy Petit, Wensen Wang, Valérie Flaud, Nicolas Onofrio, Bertrand Rebière, Lingqi Huang, Chrystelle Salameh, Luc Lajaunie, Philippe Miele, Damien Voiry