Highly Selective Production of C Oxygenates from CO in Strongly Acidic Condition by Rough Ag-Cu Electrocatalyst.

The acidic electrocatalytic conversion of CO to multi-carbon (C) oxygenates is of great importance in view of enhancing carbon utilization efficiency and generating products with high energy densities, but suffering from low selectivity and activity. Herein, we synthesized Ag-Cu alloy catalyst with highly rough surface, by which the selectivity to C oxygenates can be greatly improved. In a strongly acidic condition (pH=0.75), the maximum C products Faradaic efficiency (FE) and C oxygenates FE reach 80.4 % and 56.5 % at -1.9 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, respectively, with a ratio of FE to FE up to 2.36. At this condition, the C oxygenates partial current density is as high as 480 mA cm. The in situ spectra, control experiments and theoretical calculations indicate that the high generation of C oxygenates over the catalyst originates from its large surface roughness and Ag alloying.