Structure-sensitive electroreduction of acetaldehyde to ethanol on copper and its mechanistic implications for CO and CO2 reduction

- We studied acetaldehyde electroreduction on three copper single crystals with voltammetry, HPLC and DFT.
- We found structure-sensitive onset potentials: more open facets have lower overpotentials.
- The reaction proceeds via a weakly bound CH3CH2O* intermediate at high *H coverage.
- CO/CO2 reduction to ethanol has larger barriers than CO/CO2 reduction to ethylene.
- The barriers for ethanol formation can be reduced by making use of its structure sensitivity.