Novel ternary CuO-ZnO-MoS2 composite material for electrochemical CO2 reduction to alcohols

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 with high selectivity for alcohol production has been considered as a proper way to address both energy catastrophe and environmental complications around the globe. Herein, two metal oxides, namely CuO and ZnO having great potential to catalyze the CO2 reduction, are chosen to form a com-posite with MoS2, where MoS2 sheets act as support and enhance electrocatalytic properties of CuO-ZnO due to their synergistic effect. The synthesis and characterizations of the tricomponent CuO-ZnO-MoS2 composite material is reported for the first time in this work. The composite possessed outstanding catalytic performance in CO2 reduction to alcohol in terms of extraordinary current density (121 mA/cm2) and low onset potential (-0.23 V vs RHE). The composite material showed maximum faradaic efficiency of 24.6% and 11.1% for methanol and ethanol at-0.6 V and-0.9 V vs RHE, respectively.

Automated summary

The synthesis and characterizations of the tricomponent CuO-ZnO-MoS2 composite material is reported for the first time in this work. The composite possessed outstanding catalytic performance in CO2 reduction to alcohol with maximum faradaic efficiency of 24.6% for methanol and 11.1% for ethanol.