Waste-Derived Copper-Lead Electrocatalysts for CO2 Reduction

Shuang Yang, Hongyu An, Dimitra Anastasiadou, Wenjie Xu, Longfei Wu, Hui Wang, Jim de Ruiter, Sven Arnouts, Marta C. Figueiredo, Sara Bals, Thomas Altantzis, Ward van der Stam*, Bert M. Weckhuysen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

It remains a real challenge to control the selectivity of the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (eCO2R) reaction to valuable chemicals and fuels. Most of the electrocatalysts are made of non-renewable metal resources, which hampers their large-scale implementation. Here, we report the preparation of bimetallic copper-lead (CuPb) electrocatalysts from industrial metallurgical waste. The metal ions were extracted from the metallurgical waste through simple chemical treatment with ammonium chloride, and CuxPby electrocatalysts with tunable compositions were fabricated through electrodeposition at varying cathodic potentials. X-ray spectroscopy techniques showed that the pristine electrocatalysts consist of Cu0, Cu1+ and Pb2+ domains, and no evidence for alloy formation was found. We found a volcano-shape relationship between eCO2R selectivity toward two electron products, such as CO, and the elemental ratio of Cu and Pb. A maximum Faradaic efficiency towards CO was found for Cu9.00Pb1.00, which was four times higher than that of pure Cu, under the same electrocatalytic conditions. In situ Raman spectroscopy revealed that the optimal amount of Pb effectively improved the reducibility of the pristine Cu1+ and Pb2+ domains to metallic Cu and Pb, which boosted the selectivity towards CO by synergistic effects. This work provides a framework of thinking to design and tune the selectivity of bimetallic electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction through valorization of metallurgical waste.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere202200754
Pages (from-to)1-10
JournalChemCatChem
Volume14
Issue number18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Sept 2022

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