Journal
ACS CATALYSIS
Volume 6, Issue 9, Pages 6255-6264Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.6b01297
Keywords
bismuth nanoparticle; surface activation; electrochemical CO2 reduction; CO; ionic liquid
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Funding
- FIRST Center, an Energy Frontier Research Center - U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences
- Liane B. Russell Fellowship - Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory
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We report an efficient electrochemical conversion of CO2 to CO on surface-activated bismuth nano particles (NPs) in acetonitrile (MeCN) under ambient conditions, with the assistance of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([bmim][OTf]). Through the comparison between electrodeposited Bi films (Bi-ED) and different types of Bi NPs, we, for the first time, demonstrate the effects of catalyst's size and surface condition on organic phase electrochemical CO2 reduction. Our study reveals that the surface inhibiting layer (hydrophobic surfactants and Bi3+ species) formed during the synthesis and purification process hinders the CO2 reduction, leading to a 20% drop in Faradaic efficiency for CO evolution (FECO). Bi particle size showed a significant effect on FECO when the surface of Bi was air-oxidized, but this effect of size on FECO became negligible on surface-activated Bi NPs. After the surface activation (hydrazine treatment) that effectively removed the native inhibiting layer, activated 36-nm Bi NPs exhibited an almost-quantitative conversion of CO2 to CO (96.1% FECO), and a mass activity for CO evolution (MA(CO)) of 15.6 mA mg(-1), which is three-fold higher than the conventional Bi-ED, at -2.0 V (vs Ag/AgCl). This work elucidates the importance of the surface activation for an efficient electrochemical CO2 conversion on metal NPs and paves the way for understanding the CO2 electrochemical reduction mechanism in nonaqueous media.
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