Cu2O nanoparticles decorated with MoS2 sheets for electrochemical reduction of CO2 with enhanced efficiency

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Vol. 128; no. 2
• Main Authors: Hussain, Najrul, Abdelkareem, Mohammad Ali, Alawadhi, Hussain, Alami, Abdul Hai, Elsaid, Khaled
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-02-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Applied physics; Carbon dioxide; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Chemical reduction; Composite materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Copper oxides; Electrocatalysts; Ethanol; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials science; Molybdenum disulfide; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Optical and Electronic Materials; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Processes; Sheets; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; X ray photoelectron spectroscopy; MoS; Cyclic voltammetry; O nanoparticles; Cu; sheets; Composite; CO; reduction
• ISSN: 0947-8396; 1432-0630
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-021-05230-0

Electrochemical CO
2
reduction has drawn substantial attention not only due to the demand for energy but also the need for a sustainable environment. In this work, a non-noble based electrocatalyst (Cu
2
O-MoS
2
) was developed using a facile method for its application in CO
2
reduction. The synthesized composite material was characterized using XPS, XRD, FTIR, Raman, FESEM and EDS. The Cu
2
O-MoS
2
composite material presented outstanding electrocatalytic activity towards CO
2
reduction, and showed a reducing current density of 113 mA/cm
2
-almost twice that of the bare Cu
2
O (61 mA/cm
2
) and eight times higher than that of MoS
2
sheet (21.3 mA/cm
2
). Furthermore, the onset potential of the Cu
2
O-MoS
2
composite material is much lower compared to bare Cu
2
O nanoparticles and MoS
2
sheets. The faradaic efficiency of the Cu
2
O-MoS
2
composite material depends on the applied potential and it was found to be 12.3% and 7.9% for methanol and ethanol at  − 1.3 V and − 1.1 V, respectively.
Graphical abstract