Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate catalyzed by electroplated tin coating on copper foam

High‐Selectivity Electrochemical Conversion of CO2 to Ethanol using a Copper Nanoparticle/N‐Doped Graphene Electrode

“…No significant changes in the Cu nanoparticle size and or CNS thickness was observed from SEM ( Figures S4, S5), indicating that the Cu/CNS is stable under these experimental conditions. At À 0.9 V vs. RHE and more positive potential, only gas phase products H 2 , CO and CH 4 were obtained from all three electrodes with CH 4 as the major product Cu/CNS. In contrast, with bare CNS and Cu/glassy carbon, CO was the major product and the CO / CH 4 ratio was almost independent of potential.…”

“…In contrast, with bare CNS and Cu/glassy carbon, CO was the major product and the CO / CH 4 ratio was almost independent of potential. The higher selectivity towards CH 4 in Cu/CNS indicates a higher degree of surface-bound CO hydrogenation, which is a key step in the formation of CH 4 . [17] At À 1.0 V vs. RHE and more negative potential, the current density of CO 2 reduction increased and ethanol was produced (as a liquid soluble in the aqueous electrolyte) only from Cu/CNS.…”

“…Previous reports of CO 2 electroreduction on copper have demonstrated a variety of C1 and C2 products, including CO, CH 4 , CH 2 O 2 , ethane, ethylene, ethanol. Heavier hydrocarbons have not been reported as majority products.…”

“…Metalbased catalysts, such as copper, [1] platinum, [2] iron, [3] tin, [4] silver, [5] and gold, [6] along with carbons such as g-C 3 N 4 [7] have been the primary focus for CO 2 reduction, with some very high Faradaic efficiencies for methane conversion. Copper is arguably the best-known metal catalyst for electrochemical CO 2 reduction, [8] capable of electrochemically converting CO 2 into more than 30 different products, [9] including carbon monoxide (CO), formic acid (HCOOH), methane (CH 4 ) and ethylene (C 2 H 4 ) or ethane (C 2 H 6 ), but efficiency and selectivity for any product heavier than methane are far too low for practical use. [10] Competing reactions limit the yield of any one liquid product to single-digit percentages.…”

Liquid Hydrocarbon Production from CO2: Recent Development in Metal‐Based Electrocatalysis

“…When Sn is alloyedw ith Pb, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements show as ignificant decrease in the charge-transfer resistance comparedt ot he individual Sn or Pb metal foil. [135] This improvementi nc onductivity was used to explain the capability of the alloy catalyst to deliver moderately high FE HCOO À of 79.8 %w ith av ery high current density of 57 mA cm À2 at À1.4 V. Furthermore,d eposition of Sn on Cu is also observed to lower the operating potential, porousS nd eposited on Cu substrate is shown to yield FE HCOO À of 91.5 %a tÀ1.19 Vw hereas, Sn layer on porous Cu foam yields FE HCOO À of 83.5 %a tÀ1.19 V. [136,137] 2.1.7. Future directions for formate production…”