Coupling CO2 reduction with CH3OH oxidation for efficient electrosynthesis of formate on hierarchical bifunctional CuSn alloy

It is a promising avenue for electrosynthesis of a single chemical at both cathode and anode, via concurrent CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) coupled with energy-efficient and value-added organic oxidation reaction, while present electrocatalysts suffer low production rate. Herein, for the first time, we report a hierarchical bifunctional CuSn alloy electrocatalyst for efficient production of a single formate via simultaneous cathodic CO2RR and anodic methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), achieving a record-high formate production rate of 3313 mu mol h(-1) cm(-2), with nearly 100% formate selectivity. Moreover, coupling CO2RR with MOR requires an electricity input of only 2.61 kWh kg(formate)(-1) , in contrast to the 4.46 kWh kg(formate)(-1)required for CO2RR coupled with conventional oxygen evolution reaction. DFT calculation results reveal that the calculated limiting potential for formate production is lower than those for CO and H-2 production on CuSn alloy, leading to the high selectivity for formate production.

Automated summary

A hierarchical bifunctional CuSn alloy electrocatalyst is developed for efficient production of formate through the simultaneous cathodic CO2RR and anodic MOR reactions, achieving a record-high production rate with nearly 100% selectivity. The coupling of CO2RR with MOR requires a lower electricity input compared to CO2RR coupled with conventional oxygen evolution reaction, making it a promising avenue for electrosynthesis.