Reorganization of Interfacial Water by an Amphiphilic Cationic Surfactant Promotes CO2 Reduction

The presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) near the surface of a Cu electrode promotes the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to fuels. CTAB increases the CO2 reduction rate by as much as 10× and decreased the HER rate by 4×, leading to ∼75% selectivity toward the reduction of CO2. Surface...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of physical chemistry letters 2020-07, Vol.11 (14), p.5457-5463
Main Authors: Zhang, Zhuo-Qun, Banerjee, Soumyodip, Thoi, V. Sara, Shoji Hall, Anthony
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Physical Insights into Chemistry, Catalysis, and Interfaces
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) near the surface of a Cu electrode promotes the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to fuels. CTAB increases the CO2 reduction rate by as much as 10× and decreased the HER rate by 4×, leading to ∼75% selectivity toward the reduction of CO2. Surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (SEIRAS) was used to probe the effects of CTAB adsorption on the structure of interfacial water and CO2 reduction intermediates. HER suppression was found to arise from the displacement of interfacial water molecules from CTAB adsorption within the double layer. The enhanced CO2 reduction rate can be correlated to an increased population of atop-bound CO and the emergence of a low frequency atop-CO band. These results unravel the role of additives in improving CO2-to-fuels electrocatalysis and establishing this as a powerful methodology for directing product selectivity.
ISSN:1948-7185
1948-7185
DOI:10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c01334