The electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals is an attractive alternative to reduce the greenhouse gas. However it is difficult to find proper catalysts for CO2 reduction as CO2 conversion typically requires high energy input. In this presentation, we report efficient and selective electrocatalytic conversions of CO2 based on atomically precise metal nanoparticles. Au-based metal nanoparticles, such as Au25(SR)18 and PtAu24(SR)18 where SR is hexanethiolate, were synthesized and cast on glassy carbon electrode. Electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 was examined in the potential range between -0.3 and –1.2 V vs RHE in an H-type cell. Product analysis using gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS) showed CO2 was converted to CO selectively with a faradaic efficiency greater than 90 % at the overpotential of 0.5 V. PtAu24(SR)18 nanoparticles showed drastically different product distribution in which hydrogen was the major product (&gt;90%). The origin of the vastly different selectivity observed with these two catalysts is presented.

Electrocatalytic behaviors of metal nanoparticles for CO2 reduction

251st National Meeting (2016)

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