Electroreduction of CO2 into Ethanol over an Active Catalyst: Copper Supported on Titania

Jing Yuan; Li Liu; Rong-Rong Guo; Sheng Zeng; Huan Wang; Jia-Xing Lu

doi:10.3390/catal7070220

Catalysts (Jul 2017)

Electroreduction of CO2 into Ethanol over an Active Catalyst: Copper Supported on Titania

Jing Yuan,
Li Liu,
Rong-Rong Guo,
Sheng Zeng,
Huan Wang,
Jia-Xing Lu

Affiliations

Jing Yuan: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Li Liu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Rong-Rong Guo: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Sheng Zeng: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Huan Wang: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Jia-Xing Lu: Shanghai Key Laboratory of Green Chemistry and Chemical Processes, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/catal7070220
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 7, no. 7
p. 220

Abstract

Read online

A simple, inexpensive, and novel method was used to prepare electrocatalysts from Cu supported on titanium dioxide (Cu/TiO2). XRD, SEM, and TEM characterizations confirmed different loadings of Cu nanoparticles (NPs) on TiO2. Cyclic voltammetry tests indicated that Cu/TiO2 exhibited lower overpotential for CO2 reduction than that of Cu NPs. Moreover, 40 wt % Cu/TiO2 exhibited the highest faradaic efficiency for ethanol (FEethanol) of 27.4%, which is approximately 10-fold higher than that for Cu NPs (FEethanol = 2.7%). The 40 wt % Cu/TiO2 electrocatalyst exhibits a stable current density of 8.66 mA/cm2 over a 25 h stability test. The high efficiency towards CO2 electroreduction to ethanol may be attributed to the synergistic effect of Cu and TiO2 NPs. This work highlights the importance of compositional effect of NPs on their catalytic activities and provides a strategy for designing efficient catalysts for CO2 electroreduction in the future.

Published in Catalysts

ISSN: 2073-4344 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Chemical technology; Science: Chemistry
Website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords