Achieving convenient CO2 electroreduction and photovoltage in tandem using potential-insensitive disordered Ag nanoparticles

Photovoltaic-electrochemical (PV-EC) systems can not only make full use of solar energy, but also transform CO2 into organic molecules. However, it is difficult to achieve PV-EC systems since most CO2 reduction catalysts are potential-dependent. This paper describes the rational design of potential-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical science (Cambridge) 2018-08, Vol.9 (32), p.6599-6604
Main Authors: Deng, Wanyu, Zhang, Lei, Dong, Hao, Chang, Xiaoxia, Wang, Tuo, Gong, Jinlong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon dioxide
Carbon monoxide
Chemical reduction
Chemistry
Coupling (molecular)
Electrowinning
Infrared absorption
Infrared reflection
Nanoparticles
Organic chemistry
Photovoltaic cells
Reaction mechanisms
Silver
Solar cells
Solar energy
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Summary:Photovoltaic-electrochemical (PV-EC) systems can not only make full use of solar energy, but also transform CO2 into organic molecules. However, it is difficult to achieve PV-EC systems since most CO2 reduction catalysts are potential-dependent. This paper describes the rational design of potential-insensitive disordered Ag, which can achieve more than 90% faradaic efficiency (FE) for CO within a wide voltage range of 1.1 V in an electroreduction CO2 system. The system shows attractive activity under different photovoltage conditions in a PV-EC system. By employing in situ attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS), we address the origin of the volcano peak of FE on Ag nanoclusters to understand the mechanism of the carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR). In addition, we find that the CO2RR on disordered Ag nanoparticles is a proton–electron coupling transfer (PECT) reaction mechanism, which may result in high activity in a wide potential range.
ISSN:2041-6520
2041-6539
DOI:10.1039/c8sc02576b