Thickness‐ and Particle‐Size‐Dependent Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on Thin‐Layer Porous Silver Electrodes

Abstract

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 can not only convert it back into fuels, but is also an efficient manner to store forms of renewable energy. Catalysis with silver is a possible technology for CO2 reduction. We report that in the case of monolithic porous silver, the film thickness and primary particle size of the silver particles, which can be controlled by electrochemical growth/reduction of AgCl film on silver substrate, have a strong influence on the electrocatalytic activity towards CO2 reduction. A 6 μm thick silver film with particle sizes of 30-50 nm delivers a CO formation current of 10.5 mA cm(-2) and a mass activity of 4.38 A gAg (-1) at an overpotential of 0.39 V, comparable to levels achieved with state-of-the-art gold catalysts.

Rational Design of Ag‐Based Catalysts for the Electrochemical CO2 Reduction to CO: A Review

“…It was also reported that structure, morphology, size, and composition of the catalyst can lead to adsorption and decoupling site preferences of different adsorbates of C bound on the surface and further result in the breaking of the linear scaling relationships and tuning of the adsorption strength, eventually exerting a dramatic influence on the ECR performance . Indeed, in addition to polycrystalline and single‐crystalline Ag, some new A types have been developed and characterized recently, such as nanostructured Ag with different sizes, supported Ag catalysts with different substrates including C, TiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , dopant‐aided Ag, oxide‐derived Ag, and surface‐modified Ag …”

“…Clearly, tuning of nanocrystalline Ag electrocatalysts in terms of their geometrical parameters such as size and shape plays a significant role in the improvement of catalytic performance for selective ECR to CO. Indeed, the impact of both particle size and nanomorphology of Ag electrocatalysts has been widely reported for selective ECR to CO in literature …”

“…Indeed, the impact of both particles ize and nanomorphology of Ag electrocatalysts has been widely reported for selectiveE CR to CO in literature. [69,[76][77][78][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94]…”

“…Compared with the nonprecious metal Zn, Ag as an oble metal exhibits ab etter catalytic performance with a lower overpotential andh igher CO selectivity. [71] Considering the cost and performance for future applications, as eries of Ag-Zn composites with varying Ag NP contents deposited on the surfaceo fathin ( % 5nm) Zn nanoplate wasp repared using the electrodeposition methoda nd denoted as Zn-Ag1 to Zn-Ag4a ccording to different depositiont ime (30,60,90, and 120 s). [134] As shown in Figure 14, the catalytic performance of Zn was significantly enhanced upon the loading of as uitable amount of highly selective Ag NPs.…”

“…[69,76] It was also reported that structure, morphology,s ize, and compositionoft he catalystcan lead to adsorption and decoupling site preferences of different adsorbates of Cb ound on the surfacea nd further result in the breakingo ft he linear scaling relationships and tuning of the adsorption strength, eventually exertingadramatici nfluence on the ECR performance. [69,77,78] Indeed, in addition to polycrystalline and single-crystalline Ag, some new At ypes have been developed and characterized recently,s uch as nanostructured Ag with different sizes, [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94] supported Ag catalysts with different substrates including C, TiO 2 ,A l 2 O 3 , [95][96][97] dopant-aided Ag, [98-120, 129, 130] oxide-derived Ag, [121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128] and surface-modified Ag. [131][132][133][134] In principle, the reduction of NP size can enhancet he surface reactivity of nanomaterials by either directly affecting the atomic arrangement, such as ratio of the atoms at the edge, corner, or surface, or amplifying the effects of other structural factors such as defects, resulting in the tuning of BEs of intermediates and transition states on catalyst surfaces.…”