Cobalt Telluride Electrocatalyst for Selective Electroreduction of CO2 to Value-Added Chemicals

Author

Apurv Saxena
Harish Singh
Manashi Nath, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

Recent emphasis on carbon dioxide utilization has necessitated the exploration of different catalyst compositions other than copper-based systems that can significantly improve the activity and selectivity towards specific CO₂ reduction products at low applied potential. In this study, a binary CoTe has been reported as an efficient electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction in aqueous medium under ambient conditions at neutral pH. CoTe showed high Faradaic efficiency and selectivity of 86.83 and 75%, respectively, for acetic acid at very low potential of − 0.25 V vs RHE. More intriguingly, C1 products like formic acid was formed preferentially at slightly higher applied potential achieving high formation rate of 547.24 μmol cm⁻² h⁻¹ at − 1.1 V vs RHE. CoTe showed better CO₂RR activity when compared with Co₃O₄, which can be attributed to the enhanced electrochemical activity of the catalytically active transition metal center as well as improved intermediate adsorption on the catalyst surface. While reduced anion electronegativity and improved lattice covalency in tellurides enhance the electrochemical activity of Co, high d-electron density improves the intermediate CO adsorption on the catalyst site leading to CO₂ reduction at lower applied potential and high selectivity for C₂ products. CoTe also shows stable CO₂RR catalytic activity for 50 h and low Tafel slope (50.3 mV dec^–1) indicating faster reaction kinetics and robust functionality. Selective formation of value-added C₂ products with low energy expense can make these catalysts potentially viable for integration with other CO₂ capture technologies thereby, helping to close the carbon loop.

Recommended Citation

A. Saxena et al., "Cobalt Telluride Electrocatalyst for Selective Electroreduction of CO2 to Value-Added Chemicals," Materials for Renewable and Sustainable Energy, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 115 - 129, SpringerOpen, Aug 2022.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40243-022-00211-6

Department(s)

Chemistry

Comments

National Science Foundation, Grant CHE 2102609

Keywords and Phrases

CO electrochemical reduction 2; CO utilization 2; Cobalt telluride; Elecrocatalysts; Formic acid production

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2194-1467; 2194-1459

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2023 The Authors, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publication Date

01 Aug 2022