Surface modified Carbon Vulcan based electrodes for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to high value products

Abstract

The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 (CO2RR) in high value products represents a high potential strategy in addressing global climate change. Vulcan XC-72 carbon black is considered to be a promising catalyst support for metals nanoparticles in the CO2RR due to its good electrical properties, high mesoporous distribution and low cost. In this work we reported how the surface chemical modification of Vulcan XC-72 carbon leads to the introduction of oxygenated functionalities with a significant increase of the activity in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to formic acid. The presence of oxygen-containing species results advantageous for the dispersion and anchoring of Sn nanoparticles onto carbon surface increasing the Faradaic selectivity to formic acid up to 80%.