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Title: Promoter Effects of Alkali Metal Cations on the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is known to be influenced by the identity of the alkali metal cation in the electrolyte; however, a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon has not been developed. Here we present the results of experimental and theoretical studies aimed at elucidating the effects of electrolyte cation size on the intrinsic activity and selectivity of metal catalysts for the reduction of CO2. Experiments were conducted under conditions where the influence of electrolyte polarization is minimal in order to show that cation size affects the intrinsic rates of formation of certain reaction products, most notably for HCOO, C2H4, and C2H5OH over Cu(100)- and Cu(111)-oriented thin films, and for CO and HCOO– over polycrystalline Ag and Sn. Interpretation of the findings for CO2 reduction was informed by studies of the reduction of glyoxal and CO, key intermediates along the reaction pathway to final products. Density functional theory calculations show that the alkali metal cations influence the distribution of products formed as a consequence of electrostatic interactions between solvated cations present at the outer Helmholtz plane and adsorbed species having large dipole moments. As a result, the observed trends in activity with cation size are attributed to an increase inmore » the concentration of cations at the outer Helmholtz plane with increasing cation size.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division
OSTI Identifier:
1390621
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1418306
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515; DGE-0802270; AC02-05CH11231; SC0004993
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Journal of the American Chemical Society
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 139; Journal Issue: 32; Journal ID: ISSN 0002-7863
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; electrochemical reduction; CO2; copper; silver

Citation Formats

Resasco, Joaquin, Chen, Leanne D., Clark, Ezra, Tsai, Charlie, Hahn, Christopher, Jaramillo, Thomas F., Chan, Karen, and Bell, Alexis T. Promoter Effects of Alkali Metal Cations on the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1021/jacs.7b06765.
Resasco, Joaquin, Chen, Leanne D., Clark, Ezra, Tsai, Charlie, Hahn, Christopher, Jaramillo, Thomas F., Chan, Karen, & Bell, Alexis T. Promoter Effects of Alkali Metal Cations on the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b06765
Resasco, Joaquin, Chen, Leanne D., Clark, Ezra, Tsai, Charlie, Hahn, Christopher, Jaramillo, Thomas F., Chan, Karen, and Bell, Alexis T. 2017. "Promoter Effects of Alkali Metal Cations on the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.7b06765. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1390621.
@article{osti_1390621,
title = {Promoter Effects of Alkali Metal Cations on the Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide},
author = {Resasco, Joaquin and Chen, Leanne D. and Clark, Ezra and Tsai, Charlie and Hahn, Christopher and Jaramillo, Thomas F. and Chan, Karen and Bell, Alexis T.},
abstractNote = {The electrochemical reduction of CO2 is known to be influenced by the identity of the alkali metal cation in the electrolyte; however, a satisfactory explanation for this phenomenon has not been developed. Here we present the results of experimental and theoretical studies aimed at elucidating the effects of electrolyte cation size on the intrinsic activity and selectivity of metal catalysts for the reduction of CO2. Experiments were conducted under conditions where the influence of electrolyte polarization is minimal in order to show that cation size affects the intrinsic rates of formation of certain reaction products, most notably for HCOO–, C2H4, and C2H5OH over Cu(100)- and Cu(111)-oriented thin films, and for CO and HCOO– over polycrystalline Ag and Sn. Interpretation of the findings for CO2 reduction was informed by studies of the reduction of glyoxal and CO, key intermediates along the reaction pathway to final products. Density functional theory calculations show that the alkali metal cations influence the distribution of products formed as a consequence of electrostatic interactions between solvated cations present at the outer Helmholtz plane and adsorbed species having large dipole moments. As a result, the observed trends in activity with cation size are attributed to an increase in the concentration of cations at the outer Helmholtz plane with increasing cation size.},
doi = {10.1021/jacs.7b06765},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1390621}, journal = {Journal of the American Chemical Society},
issn = {0002-7863},
number = 32,
volume = 139,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Jul 24 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

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