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Achieving the Widest Range of Syngas Proportions at High Current Density over Cadmium Sulfoselenide Nanorods in CO 2 Electroreduction
Author(s) -
He Rong,
Zhang An,
Ding Yilun,
Kong Taoyi,
Xiao Qing,
Li Hongliang,
Liu Yan,
Zeng Jie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.201705872
Subject(s) - nanorod , syngas , materials science , faraday efficiency , current density , electrocatalyst , chemical engineering , cadmium , reversible hydrogen electrode , hydrogen , electrochemistry , nanotechnology , electrode , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , working electrode , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Electroreduction of CO 2 is a sustainable approach to produce syngas with controllable ratios, which are required as specific reactants for the optimization of different industrial processes. However, it is challenging to achieve tunable syngas production with a wide ratio of CO/H 2 , while maintaining a high current density. Herein, cadmium sulfoselenide (CdS x Se 1− x ) alloyed nanorods are developed, which enable the widest range of syngas proportions ever reported at the current density above 10 mA cm −2 in CO 2 electroreduction. Among CdS x Se 1− x nanorods, CdS nanorods exhibit the highest Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 81% for CO production with a current density of 27.1 mA cm −2 at −1.2 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode. With the increase of Se content in CdS x Se 1− x nanorods, the FE for H 2 production increases. At −1.2 V vs. RHE, the ratios of CO/H 2 in products vary from 4:1 to 1:4 on CdS x Se 1− x nanorods ( x from 1 to 0). Notably, all proportions of syngas are achieved with current density higher than ≈25 mA cm −2 . Mechanistic study reveals that the increased Se content in CdS x Se 1− x nanorods strengthens the binding of H atoms, resulting in the increased coverage of H* and thus the enhanced selectivity for H 2 production in CO 2 electroreduction.