Sr-Doped CuO Nanoribbons with the Hydrophobic Surface Enabling CO Electroreduction to Ethane.

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to value-added multicarbon (C) products is a promising way to obtain renewable fuels of high energy densities and chemicals and close the carbon cycle. However, the difficulty of C-C coupling and complexity of the proton-coupled electron transfer process greatly hinder CO electroreduction into specific C products with high selectivity. Here, we design an electrocatalyst of Sr-doped CuO nanoribbons with a hydrophobic surface for CO electroreduction to ethane with high selectivity. Sr doping enhances the chemical adsorption and activation of CO by inducing oxygen vacancies and increasing *CO coverage by stabilizing Cu active sites, thus further boosting subsequent C-C coupling. The hydrophobic surface with dodecyl sulfate anions (DS) adsorption increases the oxophilicity of the catalyst surface, enhancing the conversion of the *OCHCH intermediate to ethane. As a result, the optimized Sr-CuO exhibits a Faradaic efficiency of 53.4% and a partial current density of 13.5 mA cm for ethane under a potential of -0.8 V. This study provides a strategy to design a Cu-based catalyst by alkaline earth metal ions doping with the hydrophobic surface to engineer the evolution of the intermediates for a desired product during CORR.