Electrodeposition of Cu-based Catalysts for Electrochemical and Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction

Inexpensive and earth abundant copper (Cu)-based catalysts are popular choices to catalyze the electrochemical (EC) and photo-electrochemical (PEC) conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to value-added chemicals. Classes of mixed organic/inorganic and inorganic Cu-based catalysts have been fabricated using the electrodeposition (ED). Electrodeposition conditions are very important factors to determine the chemical nature of Cu-based catalysts and their product selectivity and Faradaic efficiency for CO2 reduction. The aim of this thesis is to explore the correlations between electrodeposition parameters and their influence on the chemical and catalytic nature of Cu-based materials. In specific, this thesis focused on two electrodeposition approaches to have a broad study: 1) mixed organic/inorganic Cu-based materials deposited for electrochemical CO2 reduction, and 2) inorganic Cu-based materials deposited for PEC CO2 reduction. Throughout the thesis, correlation analysis technique is used to discover the robust correlations in the multidimensional space of ED parameters-chemical properties of Cu-based materials-catalytic performance in CO2 reduction.