CO2 Electrolysis via Surface-Engineering Electrografted Pyridines on Silver Catalysts

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to value-added materials has received considerable attention. Both bulk transition-metal catalysts and molecular catalysts affixed to conductive noncatalytic solid supports represent a promising approach toward the electroreduction of CO2. Here, we report a combined silver (Ag) and pyridine catalyst through a one-pot and irreversible electrografting process, which demonstrates the enhanced CO2 conversion versus individual counterparts. We find that by tailoring the pyridine carbon chain length, a 200 mV shift in the onset potential is obtainable compared to the bare silver electrode. A 10-fold activity enhancement at -0.7 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) is then observed with demonstratable higher partial current densities for CO, indicating that a cocatalytic effect is attainable through the integration of the two different catalytic structures. We extended the performance to a flow cell operating at 150 mA/cm(2), demonstrating the approach's potential for substantial adaptation with various transition metals as supports and electrografted molecular cocatalysts.

Automated summary

The researchers combined silver and pyridine catalysts through a one-pot and irreversible electrografting process, which resulted in the enhanced conversion of carbon dioxide. By tailoring the pyridine carbon chain length, a higher onset potential was achieved. It was demonstrated that the integration of two different catalytic structures can lead to a cocatalytic effect.