Dynamic Surface Reconstruction of Amphoteric Metal (Zn, Al) Doped Cu O for Efficient Electrochemical CO Reduction to C Products.

The recognition of the surface reconstruction of the catalysts during electrochemical CO reduction (CO2RR) is essential for exploring and comprehending active sites. Although the superior performance of Cu-Zn bimetallic sites toward multicarbon C products has been established, the dynamic surface reconstruction has not been fully understood. Herein, Zn-doped Cu O nano-octahedrons are used to investigate the effect of the dynamic stability by the leaching and redeposition on CO2RR. Correlative characterizations confirm the Zn leaching from Zn-doped Cu O, which is redeposited at the surface of the catalysts, leading to dynamic stability and abundant Cu-Zn bimetallic sites at the surface. The reconstructed Zn-doped Cu O catalysts achieve a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) of C products (77% at -1.1 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). Additionally, similar dynamic stability is also discovered in Al-doped Cu O for CO2RR, proving its universality in amphoteric metal-doped catalysts. Mechanism analyses reveal that the OHC-CHO pathway can be the C-C coupling processes on bare Cu O and Zn-doped Cu O, and the introduction of Zn to Cu can efficiently lower the energy barrier for CO2RR to C H . This research provides profound insight into unraveling surface dynamic reconstruction of amphoteric metal-containing electrocatalysts and can guide rational design of the high-performance electrocatalysts for CO2RR.