Neus Sunyer-Pons , Vlastimil Mazanek , Zdeněk Sofer , Bahareh Khezri , Katherine Villa , Jose Ramon Galan-Mascaros
{"title":"Exploring Mg-Sn alloys as electrocatalysts for CO2 electroreduction","authors":"Neus Sunyer-Pons , Vlastimil Mazanek , Zdeněk Sofer , Bahareh Khezri , Katherine Villa , Jose Ramon Galan-Mascaros","doi":"10.1016/j.apcata.2024.120050","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tin is one of the most selective electrocatalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> reduction (CO2RR), mostly thanks to its poor activity towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Still, Sn electrodes are limited by their very high overpotential. We decided to investigate the electrochemical CO2RR catalytic activity of tin-magnesium alloys that can be easily obtained by thermal annealing from the elemental metallic powders. We found that the alloys exhibit a slightly improved activity and selectivity towards CO2RR with formate as dominant product according to electrochemical and chemical analysis. Post-mortem characterization confirmed that this effect is not due to the alloys performance, but to Sn re-structuration. Most of the Mg is leached from the alloy into the electrolyte during CO2RR, leaving a highly porous Sn structure. These changes in morphology and surface area as triggered by Mg leaching, appear to be at the origin of the enhanced electrocatalytic performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":243,"journal":{"name":"Applied Catalysis A: General","volume":"690 ","pages":"Article 120050"},"PeriodicalIF":4.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Applied Catalysis A: General","FirstCategoryId":"1","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926860X24004952","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Tin is one of the most selective electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction (CO2RR), mostly thanks to its poor activity towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Still, Sn electrodes are limited by their very high overpotential. We decided to investigate the electrochemical CO2RR catalytic activity of tin-magnesium alloys that can be easily obtained by thermal annealing from the elemental metallic powders. We found that the alloys exhibit a slightly improved activity and selectivity towards CO2RR with formate as dominant product according to electrochemical and chemical analysis. Post-mortem characterization confirmed that this effect is not due to the alloys performance, but to Sn re-structuration. Most of the Mg is leached from the alloy into the electrolyte during CO2RR, leaving a highly porous Sn structure. These changes in morphology and surface area as triggered by Mg leaching, appear to be at the origin of the enhanced electrocatalytic performance.
期刊介绍:
Applied Catalysis A: General publishes original papers on all aspects of catalysis of basic and practical interest to chemical scientists in both industrial and academic fields, with an emphasis onnew understanding of catalysts and catalytic reactions, new catalytic materials, new techniques, and new processes, especially those that have potential practical implications.
Papers that report results of a thorough study or optimization of systems or processes that are well understood, widely studied, or minor variations of known ones are discouraged. Authors should include statements in a separate section "Justification for Publication" of how the manuscript fits the scope of the journal in the cover letter to the editors. Submissions without such justification will be rejected without review.