B-site rock-salt-ordered Cu-based double perovskite realizes high efficiency and stable CO₂ electroreduction

Carbon dioxide electroreduction (CO₂RR) into high-value chemical feedstocks and fuels is a potential way to realize the carbon-neutral cycle. Cu-oxide-based catalysts are promising for CO₂ electroreduction, but suffer from inevitable reduction and structural collapse, leading to unstable electrocatalytic properties.

Profs. Zhu Jiawei and Jiang Heqing from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a B-site rock-salt-ordered double perovskite oxide of Sr₂CuWO₆ with superexchange-stabilized long-range Cu sites for efficient and stable CO₂ electroreduction.

The study was published in Nature Communications on Feb. 21.

The researcher used Sr₂CuWO₆ as a proof-of-concept model catalyst. The Sr₂CuWO₆ exhibited B-site rock-salt order, resulting in long Cu–Cu distance and superexchange interaction.

Its long-distance Cu sites facilitate *CO hydrogenation and inhibit C–C coupling. Meanwhile, the superexchange interaction stabilizes the Cu sites and prevents structural collapse. These factors realized the excellent performance of Sr₂CuWO₆ for stable CO₂ electromethanation, which achieved a high FE_CH4 of 73.1% as well as a high partial current density of 292.4 mA cm^-2.

Notably, Sr₂CuWO₆ presents the best performance of electromethanation in perovskite catalysts.

This work discovers efficient and stable Cu-based double perovskite oxide for CO₂RR, which opens a new avenue for rational design of more advanced Cu-based catalysts.