Formic Acid from Carbon Dioxide on Nanolayered Electrocatalyst

Formic acid is electrochemically generated from carbon dioxide (CO2) on nanolayered lead (Pb) electrode. Stepwise potential deposition method is applied to prepare nanostructured Pb, composed of particles and platelets with hexagonal and cubic crystallinities. Their electrocatalytic activities in an electroreduction of CO2 are compared. We observed higher faradaic efficiencies of 94.1% on a cubic Pb surface than that of polycrystalline Pb smooth films (52.3%) at 278 K. Analyzing the mass changes of the electrodes by electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, the mechanistic origin of CO2 reduction is studied, and the indirect reduction of CO2 via Had atoms might be more reasonable than the direct electron transfer of CO2 molecules.