Reconstructed Bismuth-Based Metal-Organic Framework Nanofibers for Selective CO2-to-Formate Conversion: Morphology Engineering

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (ERCO2) is an attractive and sustainable approach to close the carbon loop. Formic acid is a high-value and readily collectible liquid product. However, the current reaction selectivity remains unsatisfactory. In this study, the bismuth-containing metal-organic framework CAU-17, with morphological variants of hexagonal prisms (CAU-17-hp) and nanofibers (CAU-17-fiber), is prepared at room temperature through a wet-chemical approach and employed as the electrocatalyst for highly selective CO2-to-formate conversion. An H3BTC-mediated morphology reconstruction is systematically investigated and further used to build a CAU-17-fiber hierarchical structure. The as-prepared CAU-17-fiber_400 electrodes give the best electrocatalytic performance in selective and efficient formate production with FEHCOO- of 96.4 % and j(COOH-) of 20.4 mA cm(-2) at -0.9 V-RHE. This work provides a new mild approach for synthesis and morphology engineering of CAU-17 and demonstrates the efficacy of morphology engineering in regulating the accessible surface area and promoting the activity of MOF-based materials for ERCO2.

Automated summary

In this study, a bismuth-containing metal-organic framework CAU-17 was prepared and employed as an electrocatalyst for highly selective CO2-to-formate conversion. Morphology engineering was utilized to construct a hierarchical structure for CAU-17-fiber, achieving efficient formate production with high selectivity.