A reporter recently learned from the University of Science and Technology of China that the School of Chemistry and Materials Science and Hefei National Institute of Microscale Material Science Professor Zeng Jie's research group used tin disulfide nanosheets doped with different nickel content as catalysts to achieve efficient electroreduction Carbon dioxide to formic acid and carbon monoxide. This nickel-doped tin disulfide nanosheet catalyst exhibits high activity and stability in the electroreduction reaction of carbon dioxide. The results were recently published in the German Journal of Applied Chemistry.
In the carbon dioxide electroreduction reaction, the activation of carbon dioxide molecules has always been a difficult research point in the carbon dioxide electrocatalytic reduction reaction. Because, under standard conditions, the standard electrode potential required for carbon dioxide molecules to activate to form carbon dioxide anions in aqueous solution is relative standard hydrogen -1.9. Generally, the activation of carbon dioxide molecules involves the transfer of electrons from the catalyst to the carbon dioxide molecules, and this process is closely related to the electronic structure of the catalyst. Therefore, it is possible to achieve efficient activation of carbon dioxide molecules by adjusting the electronic structure of the catalyst.
Based on this idea, the researchers based on two layers of atomic-thick tin disulfide nanosheets and adjusted the content of introduced nickel to obtain different nickel-doped tin disulfide nanosheet catalysts. The tin disulfide nanosheet catalyst with suitable nickel content achieves efficient activation of carbon dioxide molecules, thereby enhancing the performance of carbon dioxide electrocatalytic reduction reaction. In the electrocatalytic reduction reaction of carbon dioxide, the Faraday efficiency of reduction of carbon dioxide to an effective carbon product is as high as 93% at a voltage of -0.9 standard hydrogen potential in a 5% nickel-doped tin disulfide nanosheet.
This work not only prepared highly efficient nickel-doped tin disulfide nanosheets as carbon dioxide electroreduction catalysts, but also provided a method for the rational design of electrocatalysts.