Facile electrochemical synthesis of dilute AuCu alloy nanostructures for selective and long-term stable CO2 electrolysis

Electrochemical CO production from CO2 electrolysis has been considered the most economically viable approach among various candidate products. AuCu bimetallic alloys are currently receiving attention for their potential to tailor catalytic activity. Here, we synthesized a dilute AuCu alloy nanostructure with an AuCu atomic composition ratio of 3% by using a simple electrochemical treatment method on a 200 nm-thick Au thin film. The dilute AuCu alloy catalyst shows an exceptional CO2 reduction activity in terms of selectivity and overpotential for CO production. In addition, the stability property is more significantly enhanced as compared to pure Au nanostructures. In addition, we describe an in situ tailoring method of catalytic activity for Au nanostructures by repeating an electrochemical treatment process that is performed for forming the Au nanostructure. This approach will be a promising and facile strategy not only for reactive Au catalysts but also to increase the stability activity simultaneously by utilizing Cu impurities existing in an aqueous electrolyte for CO2 reduction.