Boosting CO2 electrocatalysis through electrical double layer regulations

Qun Fan; Guangxu Bao; Hai Liu; Yihan Xu; Xiaoyi Chen; Xiangrui Zhang; Kai Li; Peng Kang; Sheng Zhang; Xinbin Ma

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109060

Boosting CO₂ electrocatalysis through electrical double layer regulations

iScience. 2024 Feb 1;27(3):109060. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109060. eCollection 2024 Mar 15.

Authors

Qun Fan¹, Guangxu Bao¹, Hai Liu^{1

2}, Yihan Xu¹, Xiaoyi Chen¹, Xiangrui Zhang¹, Kai Li¹, Peng Kang¹, Sheng Zhang^{1

3}, Xinbin Ma^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Green Chemical Technology of Ministry of Education, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
² School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yancheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng 224051, China.
³ Haihe Laboratory of Sustainable Chemical Transformations, Tianjin 300192, China.

Abstract

Interfacial investigation for fine-tuning microenvironment has recently emerged as a promising method to optimize the electrochemical CO₂ reduction system. The electrical double layer located at the electrode-electrolyte interface presents a particularly significant impact on electrochemical reactions. However, its effect on the activity and selectivity of CO₂ electrocatalysis remains poorly understood. Here, we utilized two-dimensional mica flakes, a material with a high dielectric constant, to modify the electrical double layer of Ag nanoparticles. This modification resulted in a significant enhancement of current densities for CO₂ reduction and an impressive Faradaic efficiency of 98% for CO production. Our mechanistic investigations suggest that the enhancement of the electrical double layer capacitance through mica modification enriched local CO₂ concentration near the reaction interface, thus facilitating CO₂ electroreduction.

Keywords: Chemical Engineering; Inorganic chemistry; Physical chemistry.