Nanostructured amalgams with tuneable silver–mercury bonding sites for selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide into formate and carbon monoxide†
Wanfeng Yang,Sheng Chen,Wenhao Ren,Yong Zhao,Xianjue Chen,Chen Jia,Junnan Liu,Chuan Zhao
Journal of Materials Chemistry A Pub Date : 06/05/2019 00:00:00 , DOI:10.1039/C9TA03611C
Abstract

Realizing highly efficient and selective electrochemical CO2 reduction by using cost-effective catalysts is a key to the large-scale commercialization of this technology. In this work, a nanoporous amalgam catalyst with a tuneable amount of Ag–Hg bonding sites has been developed for selective CO2 electroreduction to formate or CO via a one-step wet-chemistry method. This catalyst is composed of a Ag(Hg) solid solution phase and a Ag–Hg intermetallic compound, exhibiting a loosened nanorod-channel network morphology. The Ag70Hg30 alloy drives efficient formate generation with a high faradaic efficiency of 85% at a moderate overpotential of 790 mV while the Ag91Hg9 alloy promotes CO2 reduction to CO with a faradaic efficiency of 58% at a low overpotential of 590 mV. The switchable product selectivity has been correlated with preferable formation of HCOO* or *COOH intermediates at Ag–Hg and Ag–Ag bonding sites. This work highlights amalgams as novel electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to valuable products on demand.

Graphical abstract: Nanostructured amalgams with tuneable silver–mercury bonding sites for selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide into formate and carbon monoxide