Controllably Engineering Mesoporous Surface and Dimensionality of SnO₂ toward High‐Performance CO₂ Electroreduction

Abstract

Currently, the precise control of the architecture and surface of functional materials for high-performance still remains a great challenge. Here, a feasible approach is presented to synchronously manipulate mesoporous surface and dimensionality of SnO 2 catalysts into hierarchically mesoporous nanosheets and nanospheres within one simple reaction system. By adjustment of the hydrophobic chain length of different fluorinated surfactants, 0D SnO 2 nanospheres with average size of 165 nm, and 2D SnO 2 ulthrathin nanosheets with thickness of 22.5 nm with the distinct dimensionalities are separately obtained (one stone, two birds), both of which are well decorated with ordered mesopore arrays on their surfaces (pore size of 16 nm). The following calcination gave rise to the formation of hierarchically mesopores (5 and 16 nm, respectively) with high crystallization and improved surface area (96.8 m 2 g −1). The resultant mesoporous SnO 2 nanosheets as catalyst for CO 2 electroreduction reaction (CO 2 RR) exhibit excellent selectivity, with a high Faraday efficiency (FE) of HCOOH reaching up to 90.0% at −1.3 V and C 1 FE of 97.4% at −1.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, as well as long-term stability, which is among the best performance compared to reported SnO 2 materials, thanks to the collective contributions of the unique architecture and mesoporous structure.

Engineering Silver‐Enriched Copper Core‐Shell Electrocatalysts to Enhance the Production of Ethylene and C2+ Chemicals from Carbon Dioxide at Low Cell Potentials

“…The use of non‐noble metals has also been studied recently to create active catalysts for the electroreduction of CO 2 . For example, metals such as tin (Sn), zinc (Zn), and indium (In) were reported to catalyze the reduction of CO 2 to oxygen‐containing C 1 products, including formate (HCOO – ) and CO. [ 28–35 ] However, techno‐economic analyses suggest that reduction to yield liquid alcohols (e.g., methanol, ethanol, and propanol) and ethylene gas (C 2 H 4 ) is likely required to make the process of CO 2 reduction economically viable. [ 36,37 ]…”

NiSn Atomic Pair on an Integrated Electrode for Synergistic Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

“…Electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) carries extraordinary significance for curbing CO 2 emissions while generating value-added chemicals with economic and environmental benefits. [1] To achieve this promising goal, electrocatalysts,e .g.,n oble metals, [2] transition metals, [3] metal oxides [4] and carbon-based materials, [5] are highly imperative to overcome the thermodynamically and kinetically stability of CO 2 molecule and facilitate its activation. Particularly,the low cost metal-based electrocatalysts (e.g., Ni, Bi, Sn, Cu) have shown large potential in CO 2 electrochemical reduction to various products,i ncluding CO,f ormate and C 2+ products (e.g.,e thylene and alcohols).…”

Derived CuSn Alloys from Heterointerfaces in Bimetallic Oxides Promote the CO2 Electroreduction to Formate

“…The Sn 3d region ( Figure 1e) can be deconvoluted into two characteristic peaks located at 486.4 and 494.8 eV, corresponding to Sn 4 + . [24] Specially, Sn species in the SnO 2 /CuO NCs are slightly smaller than those for the SnO 2 and the SnO 2 À CuO physical mixture, indicating that more electrons transfer to the SnO 2 from CuO benefiting from the formation of heterointerface. In addition, Cu 2p 3/2 peak in the SnO 2 /CuO NCs shows higher binding energy than the other two samples (Figure 1f), which further demonstrate the above result.…”