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Do Cu Substrates Participate in Bi Electrocatalytic CO 2 Reduction?
Author(s) -
Li Menglu,
Li Wenbo,
Song Wentao,
Wang Cheng,
Yao Yingfang,
Wu Congping,
Luo Wenjun,
Zou Zhigang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
chemnanomat
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.947
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2199-692X
DOI - 10.1002/cnma.202000611
Subject(s) - materials science , formate , electrocatalyst , electrochemistry , reduction (mathematics) , substrate (aquarium) , chemical engineering , selectivity , electrode , catalysis , nanotechnology , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , oceanography , geometry , engineering , geology , mathematics
Bi based electrocatalysts for CO 2 reduction have recently attracted much research attention. Although Cu substrates were mainly used in these material investigations, whether the Cu substrates act as the CO 2 reduction electrocatalysts is questionable, and yet disregarded. Herein to comprehensively investigate the influence of Cu substrate on the electrochemical performance, we electro‐deposited Bi catalysts on Cu foams. It was found that during the whole process, the morphology and composition of Bi/Cu electrocatalysts varied, indicating that Cu acted as not only the electrode substrates but also the active materials for CO 2 reduction. After optimization, Bi/Cu materials achieved high activity of 59.7 mA cm −2 and selectivity of 95% for CO 2 converted formate. Our work provides experimental evidence for the material design and optimization of Bi‐based materials for CO 2 reduction.