Design and Synthesis of Ag‐based Catalysts for Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction: Advances and Perspectives

Abstract

Ag‐based nanocrystals have emerged as an important candidate for CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) owing to the increasing amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, which has shown a propensity to alleviate environmental problems and produce high value‐added chemicals. This paper reviews the surface and interface engineering of Ag‐based catalysts towards CO2RR, which involve in the morphology control, composition manipulation, and support effects. Various synthesis approaches are presented to discuss their influence on the size, crystal structure and morphology of Ag‐based catalysts, including pure Ag NPs, Ag‐based alloys, Ag/metal oxides composites as well as Ag/carbon materials. Next, the development of Ag‐based surface and interface engineering that is essential to accelerate the formation of CO and its further conversion to C1 or even multicarbon products is systematically discussed. Finally, we give a short conclusion, and perspectives on the rational design of Ag‐based catalysts based on surface and interface engineering will be discussed.

Decoration of Ag nanoparticles on CoMoO4 rods for efficient electrochemical reduction of CO2

“…It is considered as a benchmark electrocatalysts for selective conversion of CO 2 to CO with good Faradic efficiencies. Despite these advantages, pure Ag NPs suffer from maintaining the size/structure, high-cost, and stability due to their high level of surface energy 14 . So, the construction of heterostructure interface between pure metal and low-cost metal oxide materials is a perfect choice because it induces synergistic effects to promote the stability/selectivity/electrocatalytic efficiency, reduce the overpotential, and conversion of CO 2 to CO, C1 and multi-carbon products 10 , 14 .…”

Surface Polarity Induced Simultaneous Enhancement of Nanopore Accessibility and Metal Utilization in Metal and Nitrogen Co-Doped Carbon Electrocatalysts for CO2 Reduction

“…We then evaluated the performance for the case of precious metals and rare earth metals. By introducing millesimal weight of silver into the UPC, the 0.1Ag–N–UPC displayed an impressive mass-normalized j CO of 1.0–1.7 A mg Ag –1 in the potential range from −0.6 to −1.0 V (Figures b and S30), which even exceeds the performance (0.02–0.5 A mg Ag –1 ) of the state-of-the-art porous Ag nanostructures under the same conditions . To unravel the practical advantages of this type of Ag–N–C catalysts, we further normalized the j CO on the basis of the total mass of the electrocatalyst, which presented a maximum mass activity of 11.7 mA mg cat –1 at −0.8 V. This value is quite close to the pure Ag nanocatalysts, such as Ag nanowires (14.0 mA mg cat –1 ) and Ag nanoplates (12.0 mA mg cat –1 ) that were measured at similar conditions. , In this regard, the consumption of silver for this type electrocatalyst can be reduced by 99%, which is significant to address the low metal utilization issues for precious metal-based electrocatalysts.…”

“…) of the state-of-the-art porous Ag nanostructures under the same conditions. 58 To unravel the practical advantages of this type of Ag−N−C catalysts, we further normalized the j CO on the basis of the total mass of the electrocatalyst, which presented a maximum mass activity of 11.7 mA mg cat −1 at −0.8 V. This value is quite close to the pure Ag nanocatalysts, such as Ag nanowires (14.0 mA mg cat −1…”

Editorial

“…In this regard, Zhang et al [8] systematically summarized the research progress of various Cu-based organic-inorganic composite materials for the electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction, including organic molecular modified-metal Cu composites, Cu-based molecular catalyst/ carbon carrier composites, Cu-based metal-organic framework composites, and Cu-based covalent-organic framework composites. Yuan et al [9] summarized the design and synthesis of Agbased catalysts for CO 2 reduction and influence of their surface structure on the CO formation and its further conversion to C 1 or even multi-carbon products via surface and interface engineering. Zhang et al [10] summarized the microenvironment modulation of carbon-supported single-atom catalysts for CO 2 reduction.…”