Synergistic effects of interface and valence state on boosting electrochemical CO2 reduction activity of La2CuO4

Abstract

The electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction (CER) to methane (CH₄) has received great attention. Here, we proposed an efficient method to facilitate the conversion of CO₂-to-CH₄ by creating a two-phase interface over urea-modified La₂CuO₄ catalyst. The most optimized one exhibits the highest selectivity (22%) for CH₄ and the best activity (14 mA cm⁻²) and stability (5 h) at the potential of −1 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. The enhanced CER performance can be attributed to the establishment of interfacial effect within the two-phase, which facilitates the reduction of Cu²⁺ and promotes the active sites concentration.