CO2 electrocatalytic reduction on Cu nanoparticles loaded on nitrogen-doped carbon

• Cu@NC materials were prepared for CO 2 electrocatalytic reduction. • Cu@NC-3 shows a good catalytic performance with a FE of 53% for C1. • Abundant pyridinic N and high dispersion of Cu nanoparticles enhance the activity. Electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to produce valuable carbon-based fuels can solve the energy problem and achieve carbon neutrality. Herein, a series of Cu nanoparticles loaded on nitrogen-doped carbon materials (Cu@NC) for the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 are prepared and show good selectivity for C1. Abundant pyridinic N and high dispersion of Cu nanoparticles enhance the electrocatalytic activity. The highest C1 Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 53% is obtained on Cu@NC-3, including FE of 30% for CH 4 .