Catalyst-Electrolyte Interactions in Aqueous Reline Solutions for Highly Selective Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Abstract

Achieving high product selectivities is one challenge that limits viability of electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂ R) to chemical feedstocks. Here, it was demonstrated how interactions between Ag foil cathodes and reline (choline chloride + urea) led to highly selective CO₂ R to CO with a faradaic efficiency of (96±8) % in 50 wt % aqueous reline at -0.884 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is a 1.5-fold improvement over CO₂ R in KHCO₃ . In reline the Ag foil was roughened by (i) dissolution of oxide layers followed by (ii) electrodeposition of Ag nanoparticles back on cathode. This surface restructuring exposed low-coordinated Ag atoms, and subsequent adsorption of choline ions and urea at the catalyst surface limited proton availability in the double layer and stabilized key intermediates such as *COOH. These approaches could potentially be extended to other electrocatalytic metals and lower-viscosity deep eutectic solvents to achieve higher-current-density CO₂ R in continuous-flow cell electrolyzers.

Keywords: CO2 reduction; catalyst-electrolyte interactions; electrochemistry; reline; silver.