Geminal-Cu catalysts drive efficient C–C coupling to boost ethylene production via electrochemical CO2 reduction†

Abstract

Single-atom catalysts have emerged as promising materials for the CO₂RR. This study explores geminal copper catalysts for the CO₂RR into ethylene. The adjacent Cu–Cu sites facilitate ethylene formation by allowing thermodynamically favorable C–C coupling. Notably, the geminal copper catalysts achieved a faradaic efficiency (FE) of 20.22% for ethylene production, outperforming isolated copper catalysts, which exhibited an FE of only 9.36%. These results were further confirmed via density functional theory (DFT) calculations.