In the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction, specific catalyst active sites can selectively promote alcohols over hydrocarbons. But the universal design strategy is still unclear. Here, an oxide-derived copper (OD-Cu) electrocatalyst with abundant step sites was prepared by reducing CuO in CO atmosphere. High Faradaic efficiency (&gt;40%) and partial current density (&gt;55 mA cm-2) towards alcohols were achieved by using step-site-rich Cu catalyst. Meanwhile, the alcohols/hydrocarbons ratio can reach ~2.2 in a wide potential range. In-situ infrared spectrum revealed that the geometric structures of step sites can enhance C-C coupling by increasing *CO coverage and enhancing *CO adsorption capacity. Theoretical calculations further reveal that the product is selectively switched from ethylene to ethanol on step sites by strengthen C-O bond of *CH3CHO to suppress its cleavage. Therefore, the ethylene pathway is inhibited to promote the selectivity of alcohols. This work would provide a universal strategy to design active sites for electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction.

Efficient electrochemical CO2 reduction to alcohols by suppress cleavage of C-O bonds on stepped-sites-rich copper

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