Title

Exceptional Size-Dependent Activity Enhancement in the Electroreduction of CO2 over Au Nanoparticles

Authors

Authors

H. Mistry; R. Reske; Z. H. Zeng; Z. J. Zhao; J. Greeley; P. Strasser;B. R. Cuenya

Comments

Authors: contact us about adding a copy of your work at STARS@ucf.edu

Abbreviated Journal Title

J. Am. Chem. Soc.

Keywords

ELECTROCHEMICAL REDUCTION; HYDROGEN EVOLUTION; ELECTROCATALYTIC; ACTIVITY; CATALYTIC-PROPERTIES; GOLD NANOPARTICLES; ELECTRODES; TRENDS; Chemistry, Multidisciplinary

Abstract

The electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to industrial chemicals and fuels is a promising pathway to sustainable electrical energy storage and to an artificial carbon cycle, but it is currently hindered by the low energy efficiency and low activity displayed by traditional electrode materials. We report here the size-dependent catalytic activity of micelle-synthesized Au nanoparticles (NPs) in the size range of similar to 1-8 nm for the electroreduction of CO2 to CO in 0.1 M KHCO3. A drastic increase in current density was observed with decreasing NP size, along with a decrease in Faradaic selectivity toward CO. Density functional theory calculations showed that these trends are related to the increase in the number of low-coordinated sites on small NPs, which favor the evolution of H2 over CO2 reduction to CO. We show here that the H2/CO product ratio can be specifically tailored for different industrial processes by tuning the size of the catalyst particles.

Journal Title

Journal of the American Chemical Society

Volume

136

Issue/Number

47

Publication Date

1-1-2014

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

16473

Last Page

16476

WOS Identifier

WOS:000345720500004

ISSN

0002-7863

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