The electrochemical synthesis of chemicals from carbon dioxide, which is an easily available and renewable carbon resource, is of great importance. However, to achieve high product selectivity for desirable C 2 products like ethylene is a big challenge.Here we design Cu nanosheets with nanoscaled defects (2−14 nm) for the electrochemical production of ethylene from carbon dioxide. A high ethylene Faradaic efficiency of 83.2% is achieved. It is proved that the nanoscaled defects can enrich the reaction intermediates and hydroxyl ions on the electrocatalyst, thus promoting C−C coupling for ethylene formation.

Developing highly efficient electrocatalysts based on cheap and earth-abundant metals for CO 2 reduction is of great importance. Here we demonstrate that the electrocatalytic activity of manganese-based heterogeneous catalyst can be significantly improved through halogen and nitrogen dual-coordination to modulate the electronic structure of manganese atom. Such an electrocatalyst for CO 2 reduction exhibits a maximum CO faradaic efficiency of 97% and high current density of ~10 mA cm −2 at a low overpotential of 0.49 V. Moreover, the turnover frequency can reach 38347 h −1 at overpotential of 0.49 V, which is the highest among the reported heterogeneous electrocatalysts for CO 2 reduction. In situ X-ray absorption experiment and density-functional theory calculation reveal the modified electronic structure of the active manganese site, on which the free energy barrier for intermediate formation is greatly reduced, thus resulting in a great improvement of CO 2 reduction performance.

Electrochemical reduction of CO to CH OH is of great interest. Aerogels have fine inorganic superstructure with high porosity and are known to be exceptional materials. Now a Pd-Cu bimetallic aerogel electrocatalyst has been developed for conversion of CO into CH OH. The current density and Faradaic efficiency of CH OH can be as high as 31.8 mA cm and 80.0 % over the Pd Cu aerogel at a very low overpotential (0.24 V). The superior performance of the electrocatalyst results from efficient adsorption and stabilization of the CO radical anion, high Pd /Pd and Cu +Cu /Cu ratios, and sufficient Pd/Cu grain boundaries of aerogel nanochains.