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Reduced SnO 2 Porous Nanowires with a High Density of Grain Boundaries as Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical CO 2 ‐into‐HCOOH Conversion
Author(s) -
Kumar Bijandra,
Atla Veerendra,
Brian J. Patrick,
Kumari Sudesh,
Nguyen Tu Quang,
Sunkara Mahendra,
Spurgeon Joshua M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201612194
Subject(s) - overpotential , faraday efficiency , catalysis , nanowire , formic acid , materials science , chemical engineering , electrochemistry , porosity , current density , inorganic chemistry , electrocatalyst , grain boundary , selectivity , nanotechnology , chemistry , metallurgy , electrode , microstructure , composite material , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering
Electrochemical conversion of CO 2 into energy‐dense liquids, such as formic acid, is desirable as a hydrogen carrier and a chemical feedstock. SnO x is one of the few catalysts that reduce CO 2 into formic acid with high selectivity but at high overpotential and low current density. We show that an electrochemically reduced SnO 2 porous nanowire catalyst (Sn‐pNWs) with a high density of grain boundaries (GBs) exhibits an energy conversion efficiency of CO 2 ‐into‐HCOOH higher than analogous catalysts. HCOOH formation begins at lower overpotential (350 mV) and reaches a steady Faradaic efficiency of ca. 80 % at only −0.8 V vs. RHE. A comparison with commercial SnO 2 nanoparticles confirms that the improved CO 2 reduction performance of Sn‐pNWs is due to the density of GBs within the porous structure, which introduce new catalytically active sites. Produced with a scalable plasma synthesis technology, the catalysts have potential for application in the CO 2 conversion industry.