Thickness- and Particle-Size-Dependent Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide on Thin-Layer Porous Silver Electrodes

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 can not only convert it back into fuels, but is also an efficient manner to store forms of renewable energy. Catalysis with silver is a possible technology for CO2 reduction. We report that in the case of monolithic porous silver, the film thickness and primary particle size of the silver particles, which can be controlled by electrochemical growth/reduction of AgCl film on silver substrate, have a strong influence on the electrocatalytic activity towards CO2 reduction. A 6m thick silver film with particle sizes of 30-50nm delivers a CO formation current of 10.5mAcm(-2) and a mass activity of 4.38Ag(Ag)(-1) at an overpotential of 0.39V, comparable to levels achieved with state-of-the-art gold catalysts.