Surface-Oxygen-Rich Bi@C Nanoparticles for High-Efficiency Electroreduction of CO<sub>2</sub> to Formate.

Liu, Shuang; Fan, Yanpeng; Wang, Ying; Jin, Song; Hou, Machuan; Zeng, Wenjiang; Li, Ke; Jiang, Taoli et al. · Nano Lett · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The electrochemical CO<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction (CO<sub>2</sub>RR) is a promising strategy to alleviate excessive CO<sub>2</sub> levels in the atmosphere and produce value-added feedstocks and fuels. However, the synthesis of high-efficiency and robust electrocatalysts remains a great challenge. This work reports the green preparation of surface-oxygen-rich carbon-nanorod-supported bismuth nanoparticles (SOR Bi@C NPs) for an efficient CO<sub>2</sub>RR toward formate. The resultant SOR Bi@C NPs catalyst displays a Faradaic efficiency of more than 91% for formate generation over a wide potential range of 440 mV. <i>Ex situ</i> XPS and XANES and <i>in situ</i> Raman spectroscopy demonstrate that the Bi-O/Bi (110) structure in the pristine SOR Bi@C NPs can remain stable during the CO<sub>2</sub>RR process. DFT calculations reveal that the Bi-O/Bi (110) structure can facilitate the formation of the *OCHO intermediate. This work provides an approach to the development of high-efficiency Bi-based catalysts for the CO<sub>2</sub>RR and offers a unique insight into the exploration of advanced electrocatalysts.