Article Investigation into the Re-Arrangement of Copper Foams Pre- and Post-CO2 Electrocatalysis Jennifer A. Rudd 1 , Sandra Hernandez-Aldave 1 , Ewa Kazimierska 1, Louise B. Hamdy 1 , Odin J. E. Bain 1, Andrew R. Barron 1,2,3,4 and Enrico Andreoli 1,* 1 Energy Safety Research Institute, Swansea University, Bay Campus, Swansea SA1 8EN, UK;
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[email protected] (S.H.-A.);
[email protected] (E.K.);
[email protected] (L.B.H.);
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[email protected] (A.R.B.) 2 Department of Chemistry, Rice University, Houston, TX 77007, USA 3 Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77007, USA 4 Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Brunei, Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong BE1410, Brunei * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: 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 chemical 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 Citation: Rudd, J.A.; crystal structure, but also documenting their performance as a catalyst. In particular, we studied Hernandez-Aldave, S.; Kazimierska, the response of the foams to CO2 electrolysis, including the effect of urea as a potential additive to E.; Hamdy, L.B.; Bain, O.J.E.; Barron, enhance CO catalysis.