Ultrasound-boosted selectivity of CO in CO(2) electrochemical reduction

Among the possible products of CO(2) electrochemical reduction, CO plays a unique and vital role, which can be an ideal feedstock for further reduction to C(2+) products, and also the important component of syngas that can be used as feedstock for value-added chemicals and fuels. However, it is still a challenge to tune the CO selectivity on Cu electrode. Here we newly construct an ultrasound-assisted electrochemical method for CO(2) reduction, which can tune the selectivity of CO(2) to CO from less than 10% to >80% at −1.18 V versus (vs.) reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The partial current density of CO production is significantly improved by 15 times. By in-situ Raman study, the dominating factor for the improved CO production is attributed to the accelerated desorption of *CO intermediate. This work provides a facile method to tune the product selectivity in CO(2) electrochemical reduction.