Vertical Cu Nanoneedle Arrays Enhance the Local Electric Field Promoting C Hydrocarbons in the CO Electroreduction.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO to multicarbon products is a potential strategy to solve the energy crisis while achieving carbon neutrality. To improve the efficiency of multicarbon products in Cu-based catalysts, optimizing the *CO adsorption and reducing the energy barrier for carbon-carbon (C-C) coupling are essential features. In this work, a strong local electric field is obtained by regulating the arrangement of Cu nanoneedle arrays (CuNNAs). CO reduction performance tests indicate that an ordered nanoneedle array reaches a 59% Faraday efficiency for multicarbon products (FE) at -1.2 V (vs RHE), compared to a FE of 20% for a disordered nanoneedle array (CuNNs). As such, the very high and local electric fields achieved by an ordered Cu nanoneedle array leads to the accumulation of K ions, which benefit both *CO adsorption and C-C coupling. Our results contribute to the design of highly efficient catalysts for multicarbon products.