Syngas Evolution from CO<sub>2</sub> Electroreduction by Porous Au Nanostructures
Luca Mascaretti, Alessandro Niorettini, Beatrice Roberta Bricchi, Matteo Ghidelli, Alberto Naldoni, Stefano Caramori, Andrea Li Bassi, Serena Berardi
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 recently emerged as a viable solution in view of changing the common belief and considering carbon dioxide as a valuable reactant instead of a waste product. In this view, we herein propose the one-step synthesis of gold nanostructures of different morphologies grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide electrodes by means of pulsed-laser deposition. The resulting cathodes are able to produce syngas mixtures of different compositions at overpotentials as low as 0.31 V in CO 2 -presaturated aqueous media. Insights into the correlation between the structural features/morphology of the cathodes and their catalytic activity are also provided, confirming recent reports on the remarkable sensitivity toward CO production for gold electrodes exposing undercoordinated sites and facets.