Effects of Electrolyte Anions on the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Ethylene and Ethanol on Copper (100) and (111) Surfaces.

The CO electroreduction reaction has been investigated on Cu(100) and Cu(111) surfaces in 0.1 m aqueous solutions of KClO , KCl, KBr, and KI electrolyte. The formation of ethylene and ethanol on these surfaces generally increased as the electrolyte anion was changed from ClO →Cl →Br →I .