Atomically Dispersed Scandium in Cuprous Oxide Weakens *CO Adsorption to Boost Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction Toward C2 Products

Abstract

Copper (Cu) is a promising metal for electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (eCO₂RR) to value-added C₂ products. However, as the key intermediate for C─C coupling to form C₂ products, ^*CO intermediate is difficult to adsorb on the Cu surface on a moderate level. Rare earth elements possess a distinctive electronic structure that effectively regulates the local density of surrounding atoms, yet has rarely been investigated. Herein, different rare earth metals are screened doping Cu₂O and found that Sc atomically dispersed Cu₂O can weaken the CO adsorption on the catalyst surface and lower the energy barrier of the C─C coupling step through in situ ATR-SEIRAS and DFT calculations. Therefore, the as-prepared Sc_0.09-Cu₂O catalyst presents improved eCO₂RR to C₂ product performance with a faradic efficiency of 71.9% at a current density of 600 mA cm⁻².