Performance of electrochemical reduction of CO2 by superaerophilic copper foam electrode with nanowires
Electrochemical reduction of CO2 by renewable electricity is regarded as a promising method to storage energy and reduce emissions environmental problems.However,the hydrogen evolution side reaction at the cathode will reduce the performance of electrochemical reduction of CO2.Nanowires were prepared on the copper foam electrode to expand the electrochemical active area of the electrode.Then,the copper foam nanowire electrode was treated with trimethoxy(1H,1H,2H,2H-heptadecafluorodecyl)silane to make the electrode surface change from aerophobic to aerophilic,which was expected to strengthen the mass transfer of gas-phase CO2,increase the three-phase contact line of the reaction and further improve the performance of electrochemical reduction of CO2.Experimental results showed that compared with the copper foam nanowire electrode without aerophilic treatment,although the prepared aerophilic electrode possessed lower electrochemical active area,its superaerophilic property was conducive to the mass transfer of CO2,inhibited the transport of H+ in electrolyte and weakened the hydrogen evolution side reaction.As a result,the H2 Faraday efficiency dropped by 17.7%at-1.5V(vs.Ag/AgCl)and the performance of electrochemical reduction of CO2 was improved.
electrochemicalreductioncarbon dioxidecopper nanowiressuperaerophilicmass transfer