Investigation into the Re-Arrangement of Copper Foams Pre- and Post-CO2 Electrocatalysis

The utilization of carbon dioxide is a major incentive for the growing field of carbon capture. Carbon dioxide could be an abundant building block to generate higher value products. Herein, we fabricated a porous copper electrode capable of catalyzing the reduction of carbon dioxide into higher value products such as ethylene, ethanol, and propanol. We investigated the formation of the foams under different conditions, not only analyzing their morphological and crystal structure but also documenting their performance as a catalyst. In particular, we studied the response of the foams to CO₂ electrolysis, including the effect of urea as a potential additive to enhance CO₂ catalysis. Before electrolysis, the pristine and urea-modified foam copper electrodes consisted of a mixture of cuboctahedra and dendrites. After 35-minute electrolysis, the cuboctahedra and dendrites underwent structural rearrangement affecting catalysis performance. We found that alterations in the morphology, crystallinity, and surface composition of the catalyst were conducive to the deactivation of the copper foams.