Chinese researchers use electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction to produce fuel

In China, the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) into carbon-based fuels provides a promising strategy to mitigate CO2 emission and promotes the utilization of renewable energy.

The Cn (n≥2) liquid products are desirable because of their high energy densities and ease of storage. However, manipulation of C-C coupling pathway remains a challenge due to the limited mechanistic understanding.

Recently, a research group led by Profs. ZHANG Tao and HUANG Yanqiang from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a Sn-based tandem electrocatalyst (SnS2@Sn1-O3G), which could reproducibly yield ethanol with a Faradaic efficiency of up to 82.5% at -0.9 VRHE and a geometric current density of 17.8 mA/cm2. The study was published in Nature Energy on Oct. 30.

The researchers fabricated the SnS2@Sn1-O3G through solvothermal reaction of SnBr2 and thiourea on a three-dimensional carbon foam. The electrocatalyst comprised SnS2 nanosheets and atomically dispersed Sn atoms (Sn1-O3G).