Electron fixation of Sn2+/Cu+ bimetallic catalyst on flexible carbon fiber cloth for highly converting gaseous CO2 to formate at moderate potential

Designing highly active and selective electrocatalysts for converting CO 2 into value-added chemicals and fuels by electrochemical method is still a challenge. Herein, we have successfully fabricated a lotus-like morphology of Sn/Cu alloy on carbon fiber cloth via a facile electrodeposition method followed by air-dried treatment. Owing to the presence of Sn 2+ and Cu +  on the surface of Sn/Cu alloy, this bimetallic Sn/Cu electrode exhibits the outstanding FE of formate with a maximum value of 95.81% at −1.07 V versus RHE , and the total current density at −0.97 V versus RHE keeping unchanged at 33.78 mA cm −2 under the 20 h electrolysis even with the replacement of electrolyte. This work provides an effective strategy for highly boosting the selective production of formate from electrochemical CO 2 reduction by stabilizing the intermediate valence of bimetallic alloy.