Novel Insights into Sb-Cu Catalysts for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Abstract

Catalysts play a vital role in electrochemical reduction of CO2 to valuable products. Only based on effective catalysts, CO2 electrolysis process can be advanced toward industrial application. In this work, we present a Sb-Cu2O material synthesized via one-pot microwave-assisted solvothermal route. The Sb-Cu2O derived bimetallic catalyst achieves a highest CO selectivity of 96% and good CO partial current densities of 37.3 and 74.0 mA cm−2 at − 0.8 and − 1.2 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), respectively. The Sb-Cu catalyst also displays good stability at current densities ranging from 5.6 to 100 mA cm−2. Additionally, for the first time, a complete theoretical study reveals the critical roles of Sb in selective CO2 conversion to CO on this bimetallic material, including stabilizing stepped Cu surfaces selective for the reaction, lowering energy barriers for the formation of key intermediate and favouring CO desorption.