Ultrahigh Mass Activity for Carbon Dioxide Reduction Enabled by Gold–Iron Core–Shell Nanoparticles

• DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b09251
• Publication Date: 2017-10-09T13:09:24Z
• Authors: Kun Sun; Tao Cheng; Lina Wu; Yongfeng Hu; Jigang Zhou; Aimee Maclennan; Zhaohua Jiang; Yunzhi Gao; William A. Goddard; Zhijiang Wang
• Keywords: Overpotential

Wide application of carbon dioxide (CO2) electrochemical energy storage requires catalysts with high mass activity. Alloy can achieve superior performance to single metals while reducing the cost by finely tuning composition and morphology. We used in silico quantum mechanics rapid screening identify Au-Fe as a candidate improving CO2 reduction then synthesized tested it experimentally. The alloy catalyst evolves quickly into stable core-shell nanoparticle (AuFe-CSNP) after leaching out surface Fe. This AuFe-CSNP exhibits exclusive CO selectivity, long-term stability, nearly 100-fold increase activity toward compared Au NP, 0.2 V lower overpotential. Calculations show that defects due Fe contribute significantly decrease