Cascade Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide with Bimetallic Nanowire and Foam Electrodes.

Cascade electrochemical reduction of CO₂ has been investigated on nanostructured bimetallic gold-copper and silvercopper catalyst nanowire and foam electrode arrays. The bimetallic electrocatalysts allow for the overall carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) to be performed, where CO₂ to CO conversion occurring at silver (Ag) or gold (Au) is decoupled from conversion to multicarbon species at Cu. The catalyst fabrication methods permit the catalyst orientation to be controlled and thus investigation of catalyst order on the cascade process. Segmentation of bimetallic electrodes is most versatile for nanofoam arrays. Placement of an Ag foam beneath a Cu foam, where CO produced at Ag must pass through the Cu foam, results in an enhancement in methane, ethanol, and propanol production as compared to the reverse electrocatalyst ordering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]