Abstract In this work, we investigate the effect of activation (thermal or electrochemical) on the electrochemically active surface area (determined from under potential deposition of lead) and its influence on the electrochemical reduction of CO2. The copper samples were characterized by XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) and XRD (X-ray diffraction) before and after activation, and after performing electrochemical CO2 reduction experiments on them. The investigations suggest that the electrochemical reduction of CO2 takes place on metallic copper and the higher currents typically observed for activated copper is a manifestation of increased surface area. The specific method of oxidation does not seem to influence the electrochemical reduction of CO2, and only marginal differences compared to pristine copper were observed. Nonetheless, a definite change in selectivity of the reduction products was observed for activated copper foils compared to bare copper foil.

中文翻译：

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CO2 在活性铜上的电化学还原：表面积的影响

摘要 在这项工作中，我们研究了活化（热或电化学）对电化学活性表面积（由铅的潜在沉积确定）的影响及其对 CO2 电化学还原的影响。铜样品在活化前后以及对其进行电化学 CO2 还原实验后，通过 XPS（X 射线光电子能谱）和 XRD（X 射线衍射）进行表征。研究表明，CO2 的电化学还原发生在金属铜上，通常在活化铜上观察到的较高电流是表面积增加的表现。特定的氧化方法似乎不会影响 CO2 的电化学还原，与原始铜相比，仅观察到微小的差异。尽管如此，