Gallium modulated tin oxide for continuous production of formic acid via durable acidic CO <sub>2</sub> electroreduction
Bingquan Jia, Zhe Chen, Kaili Zhu, Weili Shi, Zhuang Hu, Tao Wang, Licheng Sun, Biaobiao Zhang
Abstract
CO 2 reduction catalyst corrosion and H 2 evolution remain challenging under the strongly acidic electrolyte. Here, Ga-modulated SnO x was investigated to achieve a good Sn δ+ oxidation state stability for durable (> 4000 hours) acidic CO 2 reduction to HCOOH. Under pH 1.7, catalysts achieved a partial current density of 440 mA cm −2 at −1.63 V RHE and the highest single-pass conversion efficiency (SPCE) of 91.9%. In a 10 cm 2 electrolyzer, a total current of ~986.3 milliampere is exhibited for more than 4000 hours with Faradaic efficiency of HCOOH (FE HCOOH ) higher than 82% and SPCE higher than 50%. Mechanism study indicates that lattice oxygen anchoring effect of Ga due to its strong oxygen affinity establishes a stable framework, reinforcing interface Sn─O bonds and protecting the Sn δ+ from the heavy self-reduction process. The robust structure of catalyst and modulated active Sn δ+ sites elevate the CO 2 reduction activity. The durable and highly efficient catalytic system exhibits the potential for industrial applications of the Ga-modulated SnO x .