Novel ternary CuO–ZnO–MoS₂ composite material for electrochemical CO₂ reduction to alcohols

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ with high selectivity for alcohol production has been considered as a proper way to address both energy catastrophe and environmental complications around the globe. Herein, two metal oxides, namely CuO and ZnO having great potential to catalyze the CO₂ reduction, are chosen to form a composite with MoS₂, where MoS₂ sheets act as support and enhance electrocatalytic properties of CuO–ZnO due to their synergistic effect. The synthesis and characterizations of the tricomponent CuO–ZnO–MoS₂ composite material is reported for the first time in this work. The composite possessed outstanding catalytic performance in CO₂ reduction to alcohol in terms of extraordinary current density (121 mA/cm²) and low onset potential (−0.23 V vs RHE). The composite material showed maximum faradaic efficiency of 24.6% and 11.1% for methanol and ethanol at −0.6 V and −0.9 V vs RHE, respectively.