Controlled boron incorporation tuned two-phase interfaces and Lewis acid sites in bismuth nanosheets for driving CO 2 electroreduction to formate

• Published in: Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Vol. 11; no. 34; pp. 18434 - 18440
• Main Authors: Xu, You, Guo, Yiyi, Sheng, Youwei, Zhou, Qingsong, Yu, Hongjie, Deng, Kai, Wang, Ziqiang, Wang, Hongjing, Wang, Liang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 29.08.2023
• ISSN: 2050-7488; 2050-7496
• DOI: 10.1039/D3TA03918H

Rationally designing advanced electrocatalysts and innovative energy-efficient electrolysis systems for converting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into value-added chemicals or fuels is of significance yet challenging. As for the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR), the electrocatalytic efficiency is largely limited by the CO 2 adsorption and activation capability of active sites. Herein, B-doped Bi nanosheet arrays grown on Cu foam are synthesized by a galvanic replacement combined with in situ doping strategy. It was demonstrated that the B dopant could serve as Lewis acid sites for promoting the adsorption of CO 2 , and more importantly, regulate the electronic structure and crystallinity of Bi nanosheet arrays, and create abundant amorphous/crystalline two-phase interfaces, which boost the CO 2 RR activity. Moreover, coupling the CO 2 RR with the thermodynamically more favorable methanol oxidation reaction (replacing the kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction) within a pH-asymmetric electrolysis system could realize highly efficient pair-electrosynthesis of formate with a much-reduced energy consumption compared with a conventional electrochemical CO 2 RR system.