Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2022, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (7): 1674-1679.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(21)63943-8

• Special column on catalytic conversion of CO 2 Previous Articles     Next Articles

Regulating surface In-O in In@InOx core-shell nanoparticles for boosting electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formate

Yan Yanga,c, Jia-ju Fua, Tang Tanga,c, Shuai Niua,c, Li-Bing Zhanga,c, Jia-nan Zhangb, Jin-Song Hua,c,*()   

  1. aBeijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), CAS Key Laboratory of Molecular Nanostructure and Nanotechnology, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
    bCollege of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, Henan, China
    cUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2021-07-20 Accepted:2021-09-03 Online:2022-07-18 Published:2022-05-20
  • Contact: Jin-Song Hu
  • Supported by:
    National Key Research and Development Program of China(2020YFB1505801);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22025208);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22075300);National Natural Science Foundation of China(22102191);China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents(BX2021319)

Abstract:

To solve the excessive emission of CO2 caused by the excessive use of fossil fuels and the corresponding environmental problems, such as the greenhouse effect and climate warming, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to liquid fuel with high selectivity is of huge significance for energy conversion and storge. Indium has been considered as a promising and attractive metal for the reduction of CO2 to formate. However, the current issues, such as low selectivity and current activity, largely limit the industrial application for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, the design optimization of the catalyst structure and composition is extremely important. Herein, we develop a facile strategy to regulate surface In-O of In@InOx core-shell nanoparticles and explore the structure-performance relationship for efficient CO2-to-formate conversion though air calcination and subsequent in situ electrochemical reconstruction, discovering that the surface In-O is beneficial to stabilize the CO2 intermediate and generate formate. The optimized AC-In@InOx-CNT catalyst exhibits a C1 selectivity up to 98% and a formate selectivity of 94% as well as a high partial formate current density of 32.6 mA cm-2. Furthermore, the catalyst presents an excellent stability for over 25 h with a limited activity decay, outperforming the previously reported In-based catalysts. These insights may open up opportunities for exploiting new efficient catalysts by manipulating their surface.

Key words: In-O content, Core-shell nanoparticles, CO2 reduction, Formate, Electrocatalysis