High-Performance Electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction for CO Generation Using Hydrophobic Porous Carbon Supported Au
Yanjia Cui, Yonghui Cheng, Caili Yang, Yingshi Su, Defu Yao, Biping Liufu, Jialei Li, Yiwen Fang, Suyao Liu, Ziyi Zhong, Xiaoming Wang, Ying Song, Zhen Li
Abstract
Electrocatalytically reducing gaseous CO 2 to high value-added chemical fuels is an ideal method to address energy and environmental issues. To achieve high Faradic efficiency (FE) of specific products with high current density for the CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), it is crucial to design suitable electrocatalysts to understand the relationship of structure and performance. Herein, we synthesized a hydrophobic porous carbon scaffold loaded with Au nanoparticles to explore the effect of the porous structure on CO 2 RR performance. As high as 92% FE of CO is achieved over the optimized 20%Au/FPC-800 electrocatalyst within the applied potential range of −0.7 to −1.1 V versus RHE, and its current density toward CO 2 RR is also much larger than that of other three electrocatalysts for comparison. Based on the characterization of CO 2 adsorption/desorption, Tafel slope, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and in situ attenuated total reflection-surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) analysis, it is proposed that the hydrophobic porous structure favors CO 2 storage, which can enhance the mass transfer of low-soluble CO 2 molecules to the electrocatalyst interface during CO 2 RR. Our findings provide a strategy for achieving high FE of converting CO 2 to generate a CO product with a high current density.