Synthesizing and characterizing the mixed Al,Cu-pillared and copper doped Al-pillared bentonite for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2

Abstract

Aluminum copper mixed Al,Cu-PILCs and copper dopped Cu@Al-PILC have been prepared. X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption-desorption, fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM) have been used to characterize the samples. It was found that they are porous materials with high specific surface area and Cu specimens situated at the interlayer of bentonite. Basal spacing and specific surface area in bentonite were 1.1 nm and 33 m2/g respectively that increased to 1.98 nm and 296 m2/g by pillaring. Electrocatalytic behavior of these samples for CO2 reduction were studied by cyclic voltammetry. The voltammograms with and without CO2 indicate that PILCs is capable of catalyzing electrochemical reduction of CO2 with high current density. The results show that Cu@Al-PILC enjoys more acceptable electrocatalytic activities than other samples.