PTFE decorated and carbon nanotube threaded HKUST-1 MOF-derived Cu nanoparticles@porous carbon integrated gas diffusion electrode for efficient CO2-to-C2+ conversion

Gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) are promising for electrical CO2 reduction (CO2RR). Conventional laminate GDEs often suffer from unstable catalyst-substrate interfaces, flooding, salt precipitation, limited active sites, and low efficiency. These challenges call for new architectures designation that ensure both accessible active sites and robust GDE interfaces. Here, we propose a filtration-based fabrication method combined with an in situ expansion strategy to construct PTFE decorated and carbon nanotube threaded HKUST-1 MOFs derived Cu nanoparticles (NPs)@porous carbon (denoted as Cu NPs@CNT) membrane in which MOF-derived Cu NPs are tightly embedded within the porous carbons threaded by a highly conductive CNT network. The interpenetrating structure enlarges gas channels, exposes abundant Cu sites, and minimizes contact resistance, enabling efficient CO2 delivery and electron transfer. Combining these structural advantages with a highly hydrophobic surface, the resulting Cu NPs@CNT integrated gas diffusion electrode demonstrates a maximum C2+ Faradaic efficiency of 49.0%, and a C2+ partial current density of 193 mA·cm−2 at a total current density of 400 mA·cm−2. This work shows a facile structure-engineering route for efficient CO2RR integrated GDEs.