In the field of electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂R), electrode engineering plays a crucial role in modulating the distribution of complex products. Here, based on multiphysics modeling, we demonstrate that CO₂R product selectivity varies spatially along the thickness of the catalyst layer of the gas diffusion electrode (GDE). Our calculations indicate that maintaining a moderately low local CO₂ concentration around catalytic sites enables optimal ethanol Faradaic efficiency on Cu. We further developed an optimized electrode using commercial Cu nanoparticles with a low catalyst loading of 0.1 mg cm^–2. Even under a low CO₂ feed concentration of 30%, we achieved a Faradaic efficiency of approximately 65% for ethanol at an industrial-scale current density of–156 mA cm^–2 and over 80% for C₂₊ products, along with a promising cathodic energy efficiency of more than 37% for ethanol. This study serves as a scalable and instructive guide for tuning the local CO₂ concentration to achieve optimal production of a single high-selectivity C₂₊ product.

中文翻译：

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可扩展的电极工程技术，使用商用铜催化剂实现选择性乙醇生产


在电化学 CO₂ 还原 （CO₂R） 领域，电极工程在调节复杂产品的分布方面起着至关重要的作用。在这里，基于多物理场建模，我们证明了 CO₂R 产物选择性沿气体扩散电极 （GDE） 催化剂层的厚度在空间上变化。我们的计算表明，在催化位点周围保持适度的局部 CO₂ 浓度可实现最佳的 Cu 乙醇法拉第效率。我们进一步开发了一种使用商业 Cu 纳米颗粒的优化电极，催化剂负载量低至 0.1 mg cm^–2。即使在 30% 的_CO2 进料浓度下，我们在 –156 mA cm^–2 的工业规模电流密度下实现了约 65% 的乙醇法拉第效率，对于 C₂₊ 产品实现了超过 80% 的法拉第效率，以及超过 37% 的有希望的乙醇阴极能效。本研究为调整局部 CO₂ 浓度以实现单一高选择性 C₂₊ 产品的最佳生产提供了可扩展且具有指导性的指南。