Citation: Min Zhang, Weimin Wang, Jun Li, Xun Zhu, Qian Fu. Efficient large-current conversion of CO₂ to C₂H₅OH via a ^*CO-^*OCH₂ coupling pathway on alkanethiol-modified Cu₂O array electrode[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(1): 111926. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111926 shu

Efficient large-current conversion of CO₂ to C₂H₅OH via a ^CO-^OCH₂ coupling pathway on alkanethiol-modified Cu₂O array electrode

Min Zhang ^{a, b, 1} ,
Weimin Wang ^{a, b, 1} ,
Jun Li ^{a, b} ,
Xun Zhu ^{a, b} ,
Qian Fu ^{a, b, *,}

a.
Key Laboratory of Low-grade Energy Utilization Technologies and Systems, Chongqing University, Ministry of Education, Chongqing 400044, China
b.
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

fuqian@cqu.edu.cn

Received Date: 11 September 2025
Revised Date: 29 September 2025
Accepted Date: 29 September 2025
Available Online: 30 September 2025

Figures(6)

Developing advanced electrocatalysts to convert CO₂ into liquid fuels such as C₂H₅OH is critical for utilizing intermittent renewable energy. The formation of C₂H₅OH, however, is generally less favored compared with the other hydrocarbon products from Cu-based electrocatalysts. In this work, an alkanethiol-modified Cu₂O nanowire array (OTT-Cu₂O) was constructed with asymmetric Cu sites consisting of paired Cu–O and Cu–S motifs to overcome previous limitations of C₂H₅OH electrosynthesis via CO₂RR pathway. This catalyst achieves a high Faradaic efficiency of 45% for CO₂-to-C₂H₅OH conversion at 300 mA/cm², representing a more than two-fold enhancement over the Cu₂O electrode. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the Cu–S site exhibits distinct C-binding capability that stabilizes key intermediates (^*OCH₂ and ^*CO), in contrast to the O-affinitive Cu–O site. The asymmetric S–Cu–O configuration promotes thermodynamically favorable asymmetric C–C coupling between ^*CO and ^*OCH₂, forming the critical CO–OCH₂ intermediate and facilitating C₂H₅OH production, as opposed to symmetric O–Cu–O sites that mainly generate HCOOH. This work offers an effective strategy for designing multi-active-site catalysts toward highly selective CO₂ reduction to C₂H₅OH and provides fundamental insight into the reaction mechanism.
- CO₂ reduction,
- C₂H₅OH,
- Cu₂O-OTT,
- Asymmetric sites,
- ^*CO–^*OCH₂ coupling
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Efficient large-current conversion of CO2 to C2H5OH via a *CO-*OCH2 coupling pathway on alkanethiol-modified Cu2O array electrode

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通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com

Efficient large-current conversion of CO₂ to C₂H₅OH via a ^CO-^OCH₂ coupling pathway on alkanethiol-modified Cu₂O array electrode