Nitrogen-rich polymers for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2

Two organic polymers based on repeating benzimidazole and pyridine/bipyridine units were synthesized. The polymer based on pyridine was found, upon reduction, to irreversibly react with dissolved CO2 to form an apparently stable product that exhibited stable electrochemical behavior. It is believed that electrochemically-driven carboxylation occurs. A polymer based on bipyridine was found to behave differently, exhibiting large catalytic currents for CO2 reduction in acetonitrile containing 1% H2O. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.