Selective CO2 electroreduction over an oxide-derived gallium catalyst. Issue 40 (4th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yan, Chengcheng; Lin, Long; Gao, Dunfeng; Wang, Guoxiong; Bao, Xinhe
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 6:Issue 40(2018)
• Page Start: 19743
• Page End: 19749
• Publication Date: 2018-10-04
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c8ta08613c
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : A nanosized oxide-derived gallium catalyst exhibits significantly enhanced performance towards electroreduction of CO2 to CO. Abstract : The electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2 RR) powered by renewable electricity has emerged as a promising approach to alleviate global warming and energy depletion simultaneously. Notably, efficient catalysts containing Earth-abundant elements to achieve high CO2 RR performance are in great demand for future applications. Herein, carbon-supported gallia gel nanoparticles were synthesized by precipitating gallium nitrate on carbon black in an ethanolic ammonia solution. Nano-sized gallia nanoparticles uniformly dispersed on the carbon support achieved a maximum CO faradaic efficiency of 77.0% at −0.71 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in CO2 -saturated 0.1 M KHCO3 solution, showing a dramatic improvement compared to a bulk Ga electrode with only 24.2% CO faradaic efficiency at −0.80 V vs. RHE. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements revealed that surface Ga 3+ species were reduced to metallic Ga when subjected to a negative potential during the CO2 RR, indicative of the formation of oxide-derived active gallium sites. Control experiments further highlighted the necessity of close coalescence between the nano-sized gallia particles and the conductive carbon support. The present study underscores the feasibility of improving the CO2 RR performance of Ga-related materials through nanostructuring of oxide-derived gallium catalysts.