Hydrophobic Layer-Modified Cu-PVDF Catalyst Inhibited Hydrogen Evolution under Wind Power Fluctuation To Promote Electrocatalytic Reaction of CO2 to Methanol

Abstract

To solve the problem that wind power fluctuations strengthened hydrogen evolution side reaction and reduced the Faraday efficiency of electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to methanol, a layered Cu-PVDF catalyst that combined the external polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) hydrophobic layer and internal nano-Cu catalyst was developed. The PVDF hydrophobic layer inhibited the process of H⁺ directly binding to produce H₂, while the internal nano-Cu-doped carbon black particles enhanced the electrical conductivity, which promoted the combination of H⁺ and CO₂ to produce methanol. The layered Cu-PVDF catalyst effectively balanced the electrical conductivity and the hydrogen evolution. Compared with the unmodified Cu catalyst, the hydrophobic layered Cu-PVDF catalyst significantly reduced the Faraday efficiency of hydrogen by 33.29% and increased that of methanol by 37.04%.