Cyclic voltammetry activation of magnetron sputtered copper-zinc bilayer catalysts for electrochemical CO reduction

Electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction is regarded as one of the most promising strategies for converting CO 2 to valuable chemicals or fuels. However, developing efficient catalysts for enhanced multi-carbon production at industrial current densities is still a great challenge. Herein, we report a novel method to prepare bimetallic Cu-Zn catalysts for electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction using magnetron sputtering and subsequent electrochemical cyclic voltammetry treatment. Due to the increase of the Cu-Zn interface and the shortening of mass transfer distance, the bimetallic Cu-Zn catalysts showed a faradaic efficiency (FE) of 29.3% for ethanol production at a current density of −250 mA cm −2 when testing in a flow cell. Our work provides a new strategy for the design and synthesis of bimetallic catalysts for electrocatalysis. We present a novel method to prepare bimetallic Cu-Zn catalysts for electrochemical CO 2 reduction using sputtering and subsequent electrochemical cyclic voltammetry treatment.