Sn-doped CeO2 Nanorods as High-Performance Electrocatalysts for CO2 Reduction to Formate

Authors：Ning, Shunlian; Guo, Zhiwei; Wang, Jigang; Huang, Shaobin; Chen, Shaowei^*; Kang, Xiongwu^*

Source：ChemElectroChem, 2021, 8(14): 2680-2685.

DOI：10.1002/celc.202100445

• electrochemical CO2 reduction
• Sn-doped CeO2
• oxygen vacancy
• density functional calculations

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to formate provides an effective way to solve the environmental problems caused by excessive carbon dioxide emissions and produce value-added products. Herein, we report the preparation of a Sn-doped CeO2 catalyst, where oxygen vacancies are formed by thermal treatment in Ar/H-2 atmosphere, leading to enhanced carbon dioxide electroreduction to formate. The Faraday efficiency of formate production is found to reach 81.10 %, with a geometric current density of 9.13 mA cm(-2) at a potential of -1.10 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Density functional theory calculations show that the incorporation of tin into CeO2 promotes electron transport, lowers the energy barrier to form formate through HCOO*, and increases the selectivity of formate. Results from this study highlight the importance of metal-doping in CeO2 towards the selective reduction of CO2 to formate.