Cu2O Nanoparticles Wrapped by N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes for Efficient Electroreduction of CO2 to C2 Products

Electroreductionof carbon dioxide (CO2) toC(2) products (ethylene and ethanol) using efficient catalystsis a feasibleapproach to alleviate the climate crisis. Cuprous oxide nanoparticles(Cu2O NPs) are a promising catalyst for C-2 productionbut suffer from inherent selectivity and durability. To address thischallenge, a Cu2O NPs-nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (Cu2O NPs-NCNT) composite was prepared with carbon nanotubes (CNTs),Cu2O NPs, and phthalocyanine (Pc). The results indicatethat Cu2O NPs-NCNT has excellent Faradic efficiency ofC(2) products (77.61%) at -1.1 V vs RHE, which is103.43% higher than that of Cu2O NPs. In the potentiostaticelectrolysis combined with Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy (XPS) measurements, Cu2O NPs-NCNT exhibitedstructural and catalytic current stability over 10 h. Finally, densityfunctional theory calculations combined with XPS demonstrated thatthe NCNT in Cu2O NPs-NCNT can selectively absorb CO2 through specific N-CO2 interactions. Ourwork provides a unique strategy to promote the selectivity of Cu2O NPs for C-2 production by introducing N-dopedlinear carbon materials to fabricate composite.