Highly Dispersed Indium Oxide Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanorods Enabling Efficient Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Binbin Pan,
Guotao Yuan,
Xuan Zhao,
Na Han,
Yang Huang,
Kun Feng,
Chen Cheng,
Jun Zhong,
Liang Zhang,
Yuhang Wang,
Yanguang Li
Affiliations
Binbin Pan
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Guotao Yuan
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Xuan Zhao
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Na Han
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Yang Huang
State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation Suzhou Research Institute of LICP Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics (LICP) Chinese Academy of Sciences Lanzhou 730000 China
Kun Feng
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Chen Cheng
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Jun Zhong
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Liang Zhang
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Yuhang Wang
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Yanguang Li
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM) Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials and Devices Soochow University Suzhou 215123 China
Indium‐based materials can selectively reduce CO2 to formate, but their activities still fall short of expectations to be considered for practical applications. Structural engineering at the nanoscale offers a promising solution. However, it is challenging to directly prepare nanostructures of metallic indium because of its low melting point and high oxophilicity. Herein, a strategy to prepare highly dispersed indium oxide nanoparticles as the precatalyst supported on conductive carbon nanorods from annealing the MIL‐68 (In) precursor is proposed. When assessed in an H‐cell, the product enables CO2 reduction to formate with great faradaic efficiency of around 90% over a wide potential window in 0.5 m KHCO3. When applied in a gas‐diffusion‐electrode‐based flow cell, the catalyst delivers large current density of up to 300 mA cm−2 in 1 m KOH, great formate faradaic efficiency and decent stability. These results indicate the commercial viability of the catalyst even though the carbonate buildup at the gas diffusion electrode remains an issue of future research.
