Atomic Layer Deposition of Cu Electrocatalysts on Gas Diffusion Electrodes for CO Reduction.

Electrochemical reduction of CO using Cu catalysts enables the synthesis of C products including CH and CHOH. In this study, Cu catalysts were fabricated using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), achieving conformal deposition of catalysts throughout 3-D gas diffusion electrode (GDE) substrates while maintaining tunable control of Cu nanoparticle size and areal loading. The electrochemical CO reduction at the Cu surface yielded a total Faradaic efficiency (FE) > 75% for C products.