Metallic tin quantum sheets confined in graphene toward high-efficiency carbon dioxide electroreduction

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 12697 - 8
• Main Authors: Lei, Fengcai, Liu, Wei, Sun, Yongfu, Xu, Jiaqi, Liu, Katong, Liang, Liang, Yao, Tao, Pan, Bicai, Wei, Shiqiang, Xie, Yi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.09.2016; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/638/263; 639/638/77; Adsorption; Carbon dioxide; Electrochemistry; Electrolytes; Electrons; Graphene; Humanities and Social Sciences; Metals; multidisciplinary; Oxidation; Radiation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tin; Transmission electron microscopy; China
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12697

Ultrathin metal layers can be highly active carbon dioxide electroreduction catalysts, but may also be prone to oxidation. Here we construct a model of graphene confined ultrathin layers of highly reactive metals, taking the synthetic highly reactive tin quantum sheets confined in graphene as an example. The higher electrochemical active area ensures 9 times larger carbon dioxide adsorption capacity relative to bulk tin, while the highly-conductive graphene favours rate-determining electron transfer from carbon dioxide to its radical anion. The lowered tin–tin coordination numbers, revealed by X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, enable tin quantum sheets confined in graphene to efficiently stabilize the carbon dioxide radical anion, verified by 0.13 volts lowered potential of hydroxyl ion adsorption compared with bulk tin. Hence, the tin quantum sheets confined in graphene show enhanced electrocatalytic activity and stability. This work may provide a promising lead for designing efficient and robust catalysts for electrolytic fuel synthesis. Ultrathin metal layers can be highly active carbon dioxide electroreduction catalysts but may also be prone to oxidation. Here, the authors report the fabrication of reactive tin quantum nanosheets confined in graphene and demonstrate their enhanced electrocatalytic activity and stability.