Tailoring the Selectivity of Bimetallic Copper–Palladium Nanoalloys for Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO₂ to CO

Controlling the morphology and composition of bimetallic nanoalloys is an effective way to tailor their catalytic activity/selectivity for a given chemical reaction. Herein, we demonstrate the tailoring of bimetallic copper–palladium (Cu–Pd) nanoalloys with different morphologies and compositions for obtaining highly efficient electrocatalysts for the reduction of CO₂ to CO. We further evaluate the catalytic performance of these Cu–Pd nanomaterials for the electrochemical conversion of CO₂ to CO. In particular, the spherical Cu–Pd nanoalloys with Cu/Pd molar ratio of 1/0.3 have the highest Faradaic efficiency for CO conversion (93%), while the dendritic Cu–Pd nanoalloys have the highest Faradaic efficiency for H₂ production (65.2%) via hydrogen evolution reaction at a polarized potential of −0.87 V. The balancing of the rate-determining steps during CO₂ conversion is a key factor for the observed activity/selectivity of Cu–Pd nanoalloys with different morphologies/compositions. The findings revealed in this study may shed some light on the design of cost-effective and efficient electrocatalysts for CO₂ conversion to CO or to other useful hydrocarbons