Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor

Hu, Qing; Wei, Zhihang; Chao, Linjie; Liu, Yujing; Luo, Lin; Zhang, Bo; Cheng, Zhenmin

doi:10.3390/pr13051454

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Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO₂ Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor

by

Qing Hu

¹

,

Zhihang Wei

¹,

Linjie Chao

¹,

Yujing Liu

¹,

Lin Luo

¹,

Bo Zhang

² and

Zhenmin Cheng

^1,*

¹

State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering and Low-Carbon Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

²

State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Processes 2025, 13(5), 1454; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051454

Submission received: 3 April 2025 / Revised: 29 April 2025 / Accepted: 8 May 2025 / Published: 9 May 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Chemical Processes and Systems)

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Abstract

CO₂ electrochemical reduction is a promising way to convert CO₂ to valuable fuels and chemicals. This study presents a porous Cu@Zn foam catalyst with a tailored hydrophobic surface for enhanced CO₂ reduction. The catalyst is synthesized via a modified dynamic hydrogen bubble template method, incorporating polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) during electrodeposition to control wettability. This strategy creates a hydrophobic microenvironment that significantly increases the three-phase (gas–liquid–solid) contact area, promoting CO₂ mass transfer and suppressing the competing hydrogen evolution reaction. The optimized Cu@Zn-8PTFE catalyst achieves a CO Faraday efficiency (FE_CO) of 87.53% at −35 mA cm⁻², a 40% improvement over the unmodified Cu@Zn. Furthermore, it also exhibits excellent stability, maintaining FE_CO > 90% for 64 h at −15 mA cm⁻². While hydrophobic modification is beneficial, excess PTFE loading reduces performance by covering active sites and diminishing the three-phase interface. This work highlights the importance of controlling catalyst wettability to optimize the three-phase interface for enhanced CO₂ electroreduction.

Keywords: CO₂ electroreduction; hydrophobically modified; microchannel reactor; three-phase interface

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MDPI and ACS Style

Hu, Q.; Wei, Z.; Chao, L.; Liu, Y.; Luo, L.; Zhang, B.; Cheng, Z. Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO₂ Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor. Processes 2025, 13, 1454. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051454

AMA Style

Hu Q, Wei Z, Chao L, Liu Y, Luo L, Zhang B, Cheng Z. Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO₂ Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor. Processes. 2025; 13(5):1454. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051454

Chicago/Turabian Style

Hu, Qing, Zhihang Wei, Linjie Chao, Yujing Liu, Lin Luo, Bo Zhang, and Zhenmin Cheng. 2025. "Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO₂ Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor" Processes 13, no. 5: 1454. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051454

APA Style

Hu, Q., Wei, Z., Chao, L., Liu, Y., Luo, L., Zhang, B., & Cheng, Z. (2025). Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO₂ Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor. Processes, 13(5), 1454. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13051454

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Optimizing Hydrophobicity of Cu@Zn Foam Catalysts for Efficient CO₂ Electroreduction in a Microchannel Reactor

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