State Key Laboratory of Silicon Material, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, 38 Zheda Road, Hangzhou 310027, China.
Department of Applied Physics, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
Molecules. 2023 Jan 19;28(3):1033. doi: 10.3390/molecules28031033.
This work reports the synthesis of CuSn alloy aerogels for electrochemical CO reduction catalysts. An in situ reduction and the subsequent freeze-drying process can successfully give CnxSny aerogels with tuneable Sn contents, and such aerogels are composed of three-dimensional architectures made from inter-connected fine nanoparticles with pores as the channels. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the introduction of Sn in Cu aerogels inhibits H evolution reaction (HER) activity, while the accelerated CO desorption on the catalyst surface is found at the same time. The porous structure of aerogel also favors exposing more active sites. Counting these together, with the optimized composition of CuSn aerogel, the high selectivity of CO can be achieved with a faradaic efficiency of over 90% in a wide potential range (-0.7 V to -1.0 V vs. RHE).
这项工作报道了用于电化学 CO 还原催化剂的 CuSn 合金气凝胶的合成。原位还原和随后的冷冻干燥过程可以成功地得到具有可调 Sn 含量的 CnxSny 气凝胶，并且这种气凝胶由由互连的细纳米颗粒构成的三维结构组成，其中孔为通道。密度泛函理论（DFT）计算表明，Sn 在 Cu 气凝胶中的引入抑制了析氢反应（HER）活性，同时发现催化剂表面上的 CO 脱附加速。气凝胶的多孔结构也有利于暴露更多的活性位点。综合考虑这些因素，通过优化 CuSn 气凝胶的组成，可以在很宽的电位范围内（相对于 RHE，-0.7 V 至-1.0 V）实现高 CO 选择性，法拉第效率超过 90%。
