Achieving electroreduction of CO2 to CH3OH with high selectivity using a pyrite–nickel sulfide nanocomposite. Issue 3 (5th January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Siqi; Guo, Sijie; Zhu, Cheng; Gao, Jin; Li, Hao; Huang, Hui; Liu, Yang; Kang, Zhenhui
• Is Part Of: RSC advances. Volume 7:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 1376
• Page End: 1381
• Publication Date: 2017-01-05
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/c6ra26868d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-2069

Abstract

Abstract : An FeS2 /NiS electrocatalyst could selectively reduce CO2 to CH3 OH with an unprecedented overpotential of 280 mV and high faradaic efficiency. Abstract : Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) to methanol (CH3 OH) catalyzed by transition metals has been proved feasible and effective in aqueous electrolytes. In this work, we introduce a FeS2 /NiS nanocomposite electrocatalyst synthesized by traditional hydrothermal method, which selectively reduces CO2 to CH3 OH with an unprecedented overpotential of 280 mV and a high faradaic efficiency up to 64% at the potential of −0.6 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). The FeS2 /NiS nanocomposite electrocatalyst exhibits a stable current density of 3.1 mA cm −2 over a 4 hour stability test. The high selectivity towards CO2 electroreduction to CH3 OH may be attributed to the special ladder structure of the FeS2 /NiS nanocomposite. The active sites are located at the interface between FeS2 and NiS which can effectively suppress the side reaction hydrogen evolution reaction and facilitate the CO2 reduction reaction.