A Review on the Recent Developments and Perspectives of Copper-Based Nanoparticles for the Electrochemical Reduction of NOx and COx
5 affiliations
- 1Departamento de Ingeniería Química, Industrial y de Alimentos, Universidad Iberoamericana, Prolongación Paseo de la Reforma 880, Lomas de Santa Fe, Mexico City 01219, Mexico
- 2Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Departamento de Ingeniería en Metalurgia y Materiales, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Química e Industrias Extractivas, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, San Pedro Zacatenco, Mexico City 07738, Mexico
- 3Escuela Superior de Física y Matemáticas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Edificio 9, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, San Pedro Zacatenco, Mexico City 07738, Mexico
- 4Institute for the Future of Education, School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Av. Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, Col. Tecnologico, Monterrey 64700, Mexico
- 5Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Departamento de Ingeniería Química SEPI, Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Química e Industrias Extractivas, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Mexico City 07738, Mexico
Abstract
Anthropogenic emissions of carbon oxides (COx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) arising from industrial activities contribute to environmental and health problems, motivating the development of effective strategies for their mitigation and valorization. Among the available approaches, electrochemical reduction offers the additional possibility of converting COx and NOx species into value-added products that may serve as chemical feedstocks or energy carriers, thereby contributing to carbon and nitrogen resource recovery. However, the practical development of these processes requires catalysts with high activity, selectivity, and stability, supported by synthesis strategies capable of controlling their active structures. Several metals, including Ir, Pt, Rh, Ru, Pd, Ni, Ag, Au, and Cu, have been investigated for the electrochemical reduction of COx and NOx in aqueous media. Among them, Cu is particularly attractive because of its relatively high abundance, tunable oxidation states, and ability to catalyze both reaction families. This review examines Cu-based nanomaterials prepared through different synthesis strategies and analyzes how composition, oxidation state, morphology, exposed facets, defects, alloying, and interfacial structure influence COx and NOx electroreduction. By comparing both reaction families, the review identifies shared structure–active-site–performance relationships together with reaction-specific requirements for intermediate stabilization and product formation. Particular attention is given to in situ and operando evidence showing that Cu-based catalysts may reconstruct under electrochemical conditions, so that the catalytically relevant material can differ from the as-synthesized structure. These insights support catalyst optimization with mechanistically informed design of dynamic Cu-based interfaces for selective COx and NOx electroreduction.
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BibTeX
@article{rosalesmartinez2026review,
title = {{A Review on the Recent Developments and Perspectives of Copper-Based Nanoparticles for the Electrochemical Reduction of NOx and COx}},
author = {M. R. Rosales-Martínez and M. A. Hernández-Pérez and Patricia Maldonado-Altamirano and Claudia Camacho-Zuñiga and E. Ramírez-Meneses and A. Manzo-Robledo},
journal = {Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/nano16191253},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13667226},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - A Review on the Recent Developments and Perspectives of Copper-Based Nanoparticles for the Electrochemical Reduction of NOx and COx
AU - M. R. Rosales-Martínez
AU - M. A. Hernández-Pérez
AU - Patricia Maldonado-Altamirano
AU - Claudia Camacho-Zuñiga
AU - E. Ramírez-Meneses
AU - A. Manzo-Robledo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/nano16191253
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13667226
AB - Anthropogenic emissions of carbon oxides (COx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) arising from industrial activities contribute to environmental and health problems, motivating the development of effective strategies for their mitigation and valorization. Among the available approaches, electrochemical reduction offers the additional possibility of converting COx and NOx species into value-added products that may serve as chemical feedstocks or energy carriers, thereby contributing to carbon and nitrogen resource recovery. However, the practical development of these processes requires catalysts with high activity, selectivity, and stability, supported by synthesis strategies capable of controlling their active structures. Several metals, including Ir, Pt, Rh, Ru, Pd, Ni, Ag, Au, and Cu, have been investigated for the electrochemical reduction of COx and NOx in aqueous media. Among them, Cu is particularly attractive because of its relatively high abundance, tunable oxidation states, and ability to catalyze both reaction families. This review examines Cu-based nanomaterials prepared through different synthesis strategies and analyzes how composition, oxidation state, morphology, exposed facets, defects, alloying, and interfacial structure influence COx and NOx electroreduction. By comparing both reaction families, the review identifies shared structure–active-site–performance relationships together with reaction-specific requirements for intermediate stabilization and product formation. Particular attention is given to in situ and operando evidence showing that Cu-based catalysts may reconstruct under electrochemical conditions, so that the catalytically relevant material can differ from the as-synthesized structure. These insights support catalyst optimization with mechanistically informed design of dynamic Cu-based interfaces for selective COx and NOx electroreduction.
SN - 2079-4991
ER -