Highly Selective Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction on Structure-Evolved Copper Perovskite Oxide toward Methane Production

Electrochemical carbon dioxide (CO) conversion is promising to balance the carbon cycle for human society. However, an efficient electrocatalyst is the key to determine the selective conversion of CO toward valuable products. We report herein an efficient LaCuO perovskite catalyst for electrochemical CO reduction. A high Faradaic efficiency of 56.3% with a partial current density of 117 mA cm is achieved for methane production over this perovskite catalyst at -1.4 V (vs RHE). The results demonstrate that the structural evolution of LaCuO perovskite takes place simultaneously during the cathodic CO reduction process. Theoretical investigations further unravel that the emerging Cu/LaCuO interface accounts for the CO methanation behaviors. This work provides an effective perovskite electrocatalyst for ambient CO methanation and offers a valuable understanding of the structure evolution and surface reconstruction of precatalysts in catalytic reactions for energy-relevant technologies