A Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Conversion to CO with High Selectivity and Current Density

Jhong, Huei‐Ru Molly; Tornow, Claire E.; Smid, Bretislav; Gewirth, Andrew A.; Lyth, Stephen M.; Kenis, Paul A.

doi:10.1002/cssc.201600843

A Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Catalyst for Electrochemical CO₂ Conversion to CO with High Selectivity and Current Density

Journal Article · Fri Oct 28 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · ChemSusChem

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/cssc.201600843· OSTI ID:1533149

Jhong, Huei‐Ru Molly ^[1]; Tornow, Claire E. ^[2]; Smid, Bretislav ^[3]; Gewirth, Andrew A. ^[4]; ^[5]; Kenis, Paul A. ^[4]

Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); DOE/OSTI
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan)
Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan); University of Sheffield (United Kingdom)

We report characterization of a non-precious metal-free catalyst for the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to CO; namely, a pyrolyzed carbon nitride and multiwall carbon nanotube composite. This catalyst exhibits a high selectivity for production of CO over H₂ (approximately 98 % CO and 2 % H₂), as well as high activity in an electrochemical flow cell. The CO partial current density at intermediate cathode potentials (V=-1.46 V vs. Ag/AgCl) is up to 3.5× higher than state-of-the-art Ag nanoparticle-based catalysts, and the maximum current density is 90 mA cm^-2. The mass activity and energy efficiency (up to 48 %) were also higher than the Ag nanoparticle reference. Moving away from precious metal catalysts without sacrificing activity or selectivity may significantly enhance the prospects of electrochemical CO₂ reduction as an approach to reduce atmospheric CO₂ emissions or as a method for load-leveling in relation to the use of intermittent renewable energy sources.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Dioxide Materials, Inc., Boca Raton, FL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0004453

OSTI ID:: 1533149

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1401240

Journal Information:: ChemSusChem, Journal Name: ChemSusChem Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 10; ISSN 1864-5631

Publisher:: ChemPubSoc EuropeCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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