Selectively electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to acetate on polymeric Cu-L (L=pyridinic N and carbonyl group) complex core-shell microspheres

Low selectivity is one of the greatest challenges on electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), e.g., using copper-based catalysts in water solution. Herein, we report the pure production of acetate (aside...

CO2 reduction to acetate in mixtures of ultrasmall (Cu)n,(Ag)m bimetallic nanoparticles

Monodispersed mixtures of 6-nm Cu and Ag nanoparticles were prepared by electrochemical reduction on electrochemically polymerized poly-Fe(vbpy)3(PF6)2 film electrodes on glassy carbon. Conversion of the complex to poly-Fe(vbpy)2(CN)2 followed by surface binding of salts of the cations and electrochemical reduction gave a mixture of chemically distinct clusters on the surface, (Cu)m,(Ag)n|polymer|glassy carbon electrode (GCE), as shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. A (Cu)2,(Ag)3|(80-monolayer-poly-Fe(vbpy)32+|GCE electrode at −1.33 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in 0.5 M KHCO3, with 8 ppm added benzotriazole (BTA) at 0 °C, gave acetate with a faradaic efficiency of 21.2%.