Multilayered Zn nanosheets as an electrocatalyst for efficient electrochemical reduction of CO 2

Abstract Electrochemical reduction of CO 2 into useful fuels, when powered by renewable energy, is an ideal process for replacing fossil feedstocks and simultaneously decreasing CO 2 emission. Developing inexpensive electrocatalysts for CO 2 reduction to CO with high activity and selectivity is an important part of CO 2 conversion. Zn as a low-cost metal is identified to be a promising electrocatalyst for CO 2 conversion. Here, we report a Zn electrode composed of multilayered Zn nanosheets (MZnNSs) with high density of edge sites. The MZnNSs catalyst exhibited a maximal CO Faradaic efficiency about 86% at −1.13 V vs RHE, which is almost 9 times higher than that of bulk Zn foil. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the improvement of the activity and selectivity of MZnNSs for CO 2 reduction is attributed to its high density of edge sites.