High Performance 3D Self-Supporting Cu-Bi Aerogels for Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO to Formate.

The electrocatalytic reduction of CO (CO RR) to CO, formate, methane, and other high-value compounds is a promising technique. However, current electrocatalysts suffer from drawbacks such as few active catalytic sites, poor selectivity and low stability, etc, which restrict the practical application. Although monatomic metal catalysts have been widely reported in recent years, high performance non-noble metal aerogels were rarely investigated for electrocatalytic CO RR. Herein, Cu-Bi aerogels with boosted CO RR activity were well constructed by a simple one-step self-assembly method. The resultant Cu Bi exhibits excellent CO RR activity with high faradaic efficiency (FE) of 96.57 % towards HCOOH at a potential of -0.9 V vs. RHE, and the FE remains over 80.18 % in a wide potential window (-0.8 V to -1.2 V vs. RHE). It demonstrated that the enhanced CO RR activity of Cu-Bi aerogels could be attributed to the 3D self-supporting structure of the catalysis, synergistic effect, and low interfacial charge transfer resistance.