Synergistic Enhancement of Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction with Gold Nanoparticles Embedded in Functional Graphene Nanoribbon Composite Electrodes

• DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b12217
• Publication Date: 2017-02-24T14:40:58Z
• Authors: Cameron Rogers; Wade S. Perkins; Gregory Veber; Teresa E. Williams; Ryan R. Cloke; Felix R. Fischer
• Keywords: Chemical reduction

Regulating the complex environment accounting for stability, selectivity, and activity of catalytic metal nanoparticle interfaces represents a challenge to heterogeneous catalyst design. Here we demonstrate intrinsic performance enhancement composite material composed gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) embedded in bottom-up synthesized graphene nanoribbon (GNR) matrix electrocatalytic reduction CO2. Electrochemical studies reveal that structural electronic properties GNR increase AuNP electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), lower requisite CO2 overpotential by hundreds millivolts (catalytic onset > −0.2 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)), Faraday efficiency (>90%), markedly improve stability sustained over >24 h), total output (>100-fold improvement traditional amorphous carbon supports). The inherent tunability GNR-AuNP composites affords an unrivaled degree control environment, providing means such profound effects as shifting rate-determining step CO, thereby altering mechanism at surface.