Multilayered Zn nanosheets as an electrocatalyst for efficient electrochemical reduction of CO2

Abstract

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 into useful fuels, when powered by renewable energy, is an ideal process for replacing fossil feedstocks and simultaneously decreasing CO2 emission. Developing inexpensive electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to CO with high activity and selectivity is an important part of CO2 conversion. Zn as a low-cost metal is identified to be a promising electrocatalyst for CO2 conversion. Here, we report a Zn electrode composed of multilayered Zn nanosheets (MZnNSs) with high density of edge sites. The MZnNSs catalyst exhibited a maximal CO Faradaic efficiency about 86% at −1.13 V vs RHE, which is almost 9 times higher than that of bulk Zn foil. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the improvement of the activity and selectivity of MZnNSs for CO2 reduction is attributed to its high density of edge sites.