The influence of amino anchoring position on SnO2/biochar for electroreduction of CO2 to HCOOH

Abstract

Biochar derived from biomass resources as a carrier to load SnO2 for electroreduction of CO2 not only can benefit carbon emissions, but it also can achieve waste utilization. However, the weak CO2 mass transfer and conductivity ability of SnO2/biochar limits its applications to such eCO2RR processes. This study focused on modifying SnO2/biochar with amino groups and investigated the effects of positioning of amino groups on the catalyst’s physicochemical properties and electrocatalytic behaviors. Elemental analysis revealed that anchoring amino groups on biochar (SnO2/C-NHx) is advantageous for increasing amounts of amino groups attached, thereby enhancing biochar adsorption energy and subsequently increasing the loading of Sn. The CO2 adsorption curve indicated that amino groups anchored on biochar facilitate CO2 adsorption due to high specific surface area of biochar. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that amino groups anchored on SnO2 (NHx-SnO2/C) resulted in highly electron-rich centers on Sn, which promoted electron transfer between the catalyst and CO2. Electrochemical tests demonstrated the improved performance of amino-modified SnO2/biochar. SnO2/C-NHx exhibited enhanced Faraday efficiency, whereas NHx-SnO2/C showed higher current density. The disparity in electrochemical performance can be mainly attributed to the different selectivity towards rate-controlling steps of electron transfer and mass transfer induced by the various positions of amino groups anchoring.