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Highly Efficient and Selective CO 2 Electro‐Reduction to HCOOH on Sn Particle‐Decorated Polymeric Carbon Nitride
Author(s) -
Tian Jianjian,
Wang Min,
Shen Meng,
Ma Xia,
Hua Zile,
Zhang Lingxia,
Shi Jianlin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemsuschem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.412
H-Index - 157
eISSN - 1864-564X
pISSN - 1864-5631
DOI - 10.1002/cssc.202002184
Subject(s) - electrocatalyst , faraday efficiency , electrochemistry , catalysis , materials science , formic acid , reversible hydrogen electrode , carbon nitride , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , nitride , graphitic carbon nitride , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , chemistry , electrode , nanotechnology , working electrode , photocatalysis , organic chemistry , layer (electronics) , engineering
Electrochemical conversion of CO 2 into liquid fuels by efficient and earth‐abundant catalysts is of broad interest but remains a great challenge in renewable energy production and environmental remediation. Herein, a Sn particle‐decorated polymeric carbon nitride (CN) electrocatalyst was successfully developed for efficient, durable, and highly selective CO 2 reduction to formic acid. High‐resolution X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that the metallic Sn particles and CN matrix are bound by strong chemical interaction, rendering the composite catalyst a stable structure. More notably, the electronic structure of Sn was well tuned to be highly electron‐rich due to the electron transfer from N atoms of CN to Sn atoms via metal‐support interactions, which favored the adsorption and activation of CO 2 molecules, promoted charge transport, and thus enhanced the electrochemical conversion of CO 2 . The composite electrocatalyst demonstrated an excellent Faradaic efficiency of formic acid (FE HCOOH ) up to 96±2 % at the potential of −0.9 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, which remained at above 92 % during the electrochemical reaction of 10 h, indicating that the present Sn particle‐decorated polymeric carbon nitride electrocatalyst is among the best in comparison with reported Sn‐based electrocatalysts.