Intentional construction of high-performance SnO 2 catalysts with a 3D porous structure for electrochemical reduction of CO 2

• Published in: Nanoscale Vol. 11; no. 40; pp. 18715 - 18722
• Main Authors: Zhang, Xinxin, Chen, Zhipeng, Mou, Kaiwen, Jiao, Mingyang, Zhang, Xiangping, Liu, Licheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 17.10.2019
• ISSN: 2040-3364; 2040-3372
• DOI: 10.1039/C9NR06354D

Herein, SnO 2 -NC (SnO 2 -nanocube) and SnO 2 -NF (SnO 2 -nanoflake) electro-catalysts featuring a large specific surface area and 3D porous structure were successfully constructed via acid etching and sulfurization–desulphurization methods, respectively. As catalysts for the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 , the faradaic efficiency ( F HCOO−+CO = 82.4%, 91.5%, respectively) and partial current density ( j HCOO−+CO = 10.7 and 11.5 mA cm −2 , respectively) of SnO 2 -NCs and SnO 2 -NFs were enhanced in comparison with SnO 2 -NPs (SnO 2 -nanoparticles, F HCOO−+CO = 63.4%, j HCOO−+CO = 5.7 mA cm −2 ) at −1.0 V vs. RHE. The enhanced catalytic activity is attributed to their uniform 3D porous structure, high specific surface area and excellent wettability. Additionally, the morphology of SnO 2 -NCs and SnO 2 -NFs was largely preserved after electrolyzing for 12 h (after 12 h of electrolysis), indicating the effective buffering effect of the 3D structure in electrolysis. Naturally, the current density and faradaic efficiency of the SnO 2 -NC and SnO 2 -NF catalysts remained nearly unchanged after long-term stability measurements, revealing great stability.