Summary
Converting CO
2
into value-added chemical fuels and functional materials by CO
2
reduction reaction (CO
2
RR) is conducive to achieving a carbon-neutral energy cycle. However, it is still challenging to efficiently navigate CO
2
RR toward desirable products. Herein, we report a facile strategy to extend product species in borate-containing molten electrolyte at a positively shifted cathodic potential with a high current density (e.g. 100 mA/cm
2
), which can selectively electro-transform CO
2
into desired products (either CO or solid carbon nanofibers, respectively reaching a high selectivity of ∼90%). The borates can act as a controller of electrolyte alkalinity to buffer the concentration of sequentially generated O
2−
during CO
2
RR, positively shifting the reduction potential of the captured CO
2
and concurrently extending the product species. The sustainable buffering effect is available under CO
2
atmosphere. Compared with borate-free electrolyte, the CO
2
conversion efficiency is over three times higher, while the electrolysis energy consumption is decreased by over 40%.
A binderless composite cathode for efficient electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), Mo 2 C-decorated carbon cloth (denoted as CC/MC), is simply fabricated via a novel and unique strategy which involves a solid−solid phase interfacial electrochemical reaction between carbon fiber and bulk-MoS 2 in molten NaCl−KCl (700 °C). MoS 2 , evenly coated on carbon cloth (CC), is electrochemically reduced in situ and readily reacts with the carbon fibers of CC current collector to form a Mo 2 C nanoparticle layer. The experiment and calculation results show that the applied electric field results in a declining migration barrier of Mo vacancies in Mo 2 C lattice, which promotes the diffusion of Mo atoms into carbon across the interfacial Mo 2 C layer, thereby impelling the combination of Mo with C in depth. The electrochemical tests indicate that the optimized cathode (CC/MC-2) exhibits a small overpotential of 134.4 mV at 10 mA cm −2 and stays stable for HER in acidic media. The catalytic capacity for N 2 reduction of CC/MC-2 is analyzed. In addition, a Ni-doped Mo 2 C-modified carbon fabric electrode with enhanced HER activity (η 10 = 96.6 mV) can be prepared through a similar process.
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