Thermodynamic phase control of Cu-Sn alloy electrocatalysts for selective CO2 reduction

Abstract

In the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), Cu alloy electrocatalysts can control the CO2RR selectivity by modulating the intermediate binding energy. Here, we report the thermodynamic-based Cu-Sn bimetallic phase control in heterogeneous catalysts for selective CO2 conversion. Starting from the thermodynamic understanding about Cu-Sn bimetallic compounds, we established the specific processing window for Cu-Sn bimetallic phase control. To modulate the Cu-Sn bimetallic phases, we controlled the oxygen partial pressure (pO2) during the calcination of electrospun Cu and Sn ions-incorporated nanofibers (NFs). This resulted in the formation of CuO-SnO2 NFs (full oxidation), Cu-SnO2 NFs (selective reduction), Cu3Sn/CNFs, Cu41Sn11/CNFs, and Cu6Sn5/CNFs (full reduction). In the CO2RR, CuO-SnO2 NFs exhibited formate (HCOO−) production and Cu-SnO2 NFs showed carbon monoxide (CO) production with the faradaic efficiency (FE) of 65.3% at −0.99 V (vs. RHE) and 59.1% at −0.89 V (vs. RHE) respectively. Cu-rich Cu41Sn11/CNFs and Cu3Sn/CNFs enhanced the methane (CH4) production with the FE of 39.1% at −1.36 V (vs. RHE) and 34.7% at −1.50 V (vs. RHE). However, Sn-rich Cu6Sn5/CNFs produced HCOO− with the FE of 58.6% at −2.31 V (vs. RHE). This study suggests the methodology for bimetallic catalyst design and steering the CO2RR pathway by controlling the active sites of Cu-Sn alloys. © 2024 The Royal Society of Chemistry.