High-throughput investigation of Cu-Ti and Cu-Sn catalysts for fuel production from CO 2 Antonio Barile and Raffaello Mazzaro Università di Bologna, Italy The CO 2 transformation via electrochemical reduction has been a longstanding target, considering the application of intermittent renewable energy sources. In such a system, the ability to produce liquid fuels is highly desirable due to their high energy density and security in storage and transportation, to which the design of electrocatalytic materials is the main focus. In this direction, Copper-based materials showed great promise to promote the selective electroreduction of CO 2 to C2+ products with a high conversion efficiency. Research efforts have been made to improve the activity and selectivity of Cu-based electrocatalysts through doping or alloying with other transition metals, but the lack of a strong theoretical basis and the variety of experimental parameters to test currently represent one of the main bottlenecks inthe realization of performative electrodes. In the present study,a high-throughput approach is developed for the fabrication and testing of Cu-based electrocatalysts for the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). In particular, combinatorial materials libraries based on Cu-Ti [1] and Cu-Sn [2] alloys were prepared by magnetron co-sputtering, characterized by lateral concentration gradients. Local characterization of the CO 2 RR electrocatalytic performance as a function of the relative element ratio was achieved by developing a Scanning (Photo)electrochemical flow cell, achieving lateral resolution in the mm domain. In such a way, it was possible to rapidly select the best atomic concentration for each electrode (5 at.% of titanium and10 at.% of tin in CuTi and CuSn, respectively) in terms of main electrocatalysis figures of merit (overpotential, Tafel slope). Chemical characterization of the gas products was also implemented within the high-throughput methodology, allowing for rapid screening of shifts in selectivity related to the alloys' composition. Finally, the approach was also tested for the investigation of the coupling efficiency of the aforementioned electrocatalysts with semiconductor assemblies. Specifically, photocathodes based on Cu 2 O and passivating oxide overlayers (ZnO, TiO 2 , and AZO) were prepared using a combinatorial approach. Their activity was screened by coupling the newly developed SPFC with a sunlight-equivalent source, demonstrating the capability of the setup towards high-throughput materials development for PEC materials. References 1. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2021, 60, 26122–26127 2. ACS Catal. 2019, 9, 10, 9411–9417
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