Research progress of electrochemical CO2 reduction for copper-based catalysts to multicarbon products

Excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions cause serious harm to nature and humans, and electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (ECO2RR) is a potential method to solve the current crisis. Due to the high selectivity for multicarbon (C2+) oxygenate and hydrocarbons, copper-based catalysts have attracted extensive attention and research. In this review, we summarize in detail the design strategies of copper-based catalysts to improve the performance of ECO2RR, including structure, defect, compounds-derived catalysts, bimetallic construction, and heterogeneous engineering. The correlation between the formation mechanism of the C–C bond and the structural characteristics of the catalyst is discussed in detail. Finally, the main challenges of reducing CO2 to C2+ products such as low selectivity, low activity, and low stability are discussed. According to current literature, this review also provides distinctive insights and some potential strategies for the design and performance optimization of copper-based catalysts.