KCS

With the ever-growing concerns for pollution and climate change today, necessary steps must be taken to reduce the abundant amount of carbon dioxide in the air and put it into efficient use. Carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) has been the key to this issue, where it can produce various essential fuels and feedstocks such as carbon monoxide, methane, methanol, formate, ethylene, and ethanol. However, since carbon dioxide exists as a thermodynamically stable compound, highly active catalysts are required for this electrochemical reaction. Moreover, most attention is leaned towards the production of catalysts capable of producing high-value C₂₊ products with high selectivity. Herein, we report the synthesis of Au@Cu₂O hetero-nanostructures as catalysts for the CO₂RR for high-value C₂₊ products. The prepared Au@Cu₂O catalysts exhibit high catalytic performance due to the synergistic effects of Au and Cu. Furthermore, multiple interfaces between Au and Cu on the catalyst are produced by controlling the morphology to increase the enhanced active surface area and catalytic activity.