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Nano Research 2023, 16(8): 10803-10809 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5824-6
Research Article | Issue | Published: 05 June 2023

Active plane modulation of Bi2O3 nanosheets via Zn substitution for efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formic acid

Show Author's Information Yumei Liu1,2,§,  Tiantian Wu3,§,  Hongfei Cheng4,  Jiawen Wu2,  Xiaodong Guo1( ),  Hong Jin Fan2( )
College of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore
School of Chemistry, Xi’an Key Laboratory of Sustainable Energy Materials Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Singapore 138634, Singapore

§ Yumei Liu and Tiantian Wu contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
high selectivity, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, active plane modulation, Bi2O3 catalyst, Zn substitution
Topics:
Selective catalytic reduction
Cite this article:
Liu Y, Wu T, Cheng H, et al. Active plane modulation of Bi2O3 nanosheets via Zn substitution for efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formic acid. Nano Research, 2023, 16(8): 10803-10809. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5824-6
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Formic acid is considered one of the most economically viable products for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, developing highly active and selective electrocatalysts for effective CO2 conversion remains a grand challenge. Herein, we report that structural modulation of the bismuth oxide nanosheet via Zn2+ cooperation has a profound positive effect on exposure of the active plane, thereby contributing to high electrocatalytic CO2RR performance. The obtained Zn-Bi2O3 catalyst demonstrates superior selectivity towards formate generation in a wide potential range; a high Faradaic efficiency of 95% and a desirable partial current density of around 20 mA·cm−2 are obtained at −0.9 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). As proposed by density functional theory calculations, Zn substitution is the most energetically feasible for forming and stabilizing the key OCHO* intermediate among the used metal ions. Moreover, the more negative adsorption energy of OCHO* and the relatively low energy barrier for the desorption of HCOOH* are responsible for the enhanced activity and selectivity.


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About this article

Active plane modulation of Bi2O3 nanosheets via Zn substitution for efficient electrocatalytic CO2 reduction to formic acid

Show Author's information Yumei Liu1,2,§, Tiantian Wu3,§, Hongfei Cheng4, Jiawen Wu2, Xiaodong Guo1( ), Hong Jin Fan2( )
College of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371, Singapore
School of Chemistry, Xi’an Key Laboratory of Sustainable Energy Materials Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Institute of Materials Research and Engineering, A*STAR, 2 Fusionopolis Way, Singapore 138634, Singapore

§ Yumei Liu and Tiantian Wu contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Formic acid is considered one of the most economically viable products for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). However, developing highly active and selective electrocatalysts for effective CO2 conversion remains a grand challenge. Herein, we report that structural modulation of the bismuth oxide nanosheet via Zn2+ cooperation has a profound positive effect on exposure of the active plane, thereby contributing to high electrocatalytic CO2RR performance. The obtained Zn-Bi2O3 catalyst demonstrates superior selectivity towards formate generation in a wide potential range; a high Faradaic efficiency of 95% and a desirable partial current density of around 20 mA·cm−2 are obtained at −0.9 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). As proposed by density functional theory calculations, Zn substitution is the most energetically feasible for forming and stabilizing the key OCHO* intermediate among the used metal ions. Moreover, the more negative adsorption energy of OCHO* and the relatively low energy barrier for the desorption of HCOOH* are responsible for the enhanced activity and selectivity.

Keywords: high selectivity, electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, active plane modulation, Bi2O3 catalyst, Zn substitution

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 27 February 2023
Revised: 29 April 2023
Accepted: 09 May 2023
Published: 05 June 2023
Issue date: August 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 1 (Nos. RG 85/20 and 125/21), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. U20A200201), China Postdoctoral Science Fund, No.3 Special Funding (Pre-Station) (No. 2021TQ007), and natural science program on basic research project of Shaanxi province (No. 2023-JC-QN-0155). The supercomputing facilities provided by Hefei Advanced Computing Center are appreciated.

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