Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2018, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (5): 914-919.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(18)63021-9

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A highly efficient flower-like cobalt catalyst for electroreduction of carbon dioxide

Gang Yang, Zhipeng Yu, Jie Zhang, Zhenxing Liang   

  1. Key Laboratory on Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, Guangdong, China
  • Received:2017-11-23 Revised:2018-01-07 Online:2018-05-18 Published:2018-04-19
  • Contact: 10.1016/S1872-2067(18)63021-9
  • Supported by:

    This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21676106, 21476087), Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou (201704030065), Science and Technology Program of Guangdong (2017A050506015), National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFB0101204).

Abstract:

Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into fuel has been regarded as a promising approach to achieve the global carbon cycle. Herein, we report an efficient cobalt catalyst with a unique flower-like morphology synthesized by a green and facile hydrothermal method, in which n-butylamine is used as the capping agent. The resultant catalyst shows superior electrocatalytic activity toward CO2 electroreduction, which is highly selective for generating formate with a Faraday efficiency of 63.4%. Electrochemical analysis reveals that the oxide on the surface is essential for the electrocatalysis of the CO2 reduction reaction. Cyclic voltammograms further suggest that this catalyst is highly active for the oxidation of reduced product, and can thus be seen as a bifunctional catalyst.

Key words: CO2 electroreduction reaction, Cobalt, Flower-like morphology, Formate, Interface