Electrolytic reduction of CO2 in KHCO3 and alkanolamine solutions with layered double hydroxides intercalated with gold or copper

The application of electrocatalytic reduction of CO 2 is limited by the low solubility of CO 2 in water, separation of products, energy conversion efficiency and insufficient catalyst performance. In this research, enhanced CO 2 reduction was observed in alcohol amine solution by using layered double hydroxides (LDHs) intercalated with gold or copper. Copper was found to be distributed more evenly and thus had a larger electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) through the pre-intercalation of EDTA when compared with the direct ion-exchange of [AuCl 4 ] − with LDHs. In 0.5 M KHCO 3 solutions, CO and H 2 was monitored for Au/MgAl-LDHs while additional products of CH 4 and HCOOH was measured by using Cu/MgAl-LDHs. In 1.0 M alcohol amine solutions, CO and H 2 were determined as the main products for both Au/MgAl-LDHs and Cu/MgAl-LDHs. Under all the test conditions hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was enhanced towards negative potential, resulting in a higher Faraday's Efficiency (FE) for H 2 .