Catalytic hydrogenation performance of ZIF-8 carbide for electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide

The conversion of CO_(2) electrocatalytic hydrogenation into energy-rich fuel is considered to be the most effective way to carbon recycle.Nitrogen-doping carbonized ZIF-8 is proposed as carrier of the earth-rich Sn catalyst to overcome the limit of electron transfer and CO_(2) adsorption capacity of Sn.Hierarchically porous structure of Sn doped carbonized ZIF-8 is controlled by hydrothermal and carbonization conditions,which induces much higher specific surface area than that of the commercial Sn nanoparticle(1003.174 vs.7.410 m^(2)·g^(-1)).The shift of nitrogen peaks in X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy spectra indicates interaction between ZIF-8 and Sn,which induces the shift of electron cloud from Sn to the chemical nitrogen to enhance conductivity and regulate electron transfer from catalyst to CO_(2).Lower mass transfer resistance and Warburg resistance are investigated through EIS,which significantly improves the catalytic activity for CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR).Onset potential of the reaction is reduced from-0.74 V to less than-0.54 V vs.RHE.The total Faraday efficiency of HCOOH and CO reaches 68.9%at-1.14 V vs.RHE,which is much higher than that of the commercial Sn(45.0%)and some other Sn-based catalyst reported in the literature.