Pulsed Electrolysis Promotes CO2 Reduction on Tin Oxide Catalyst

Graphical This study compared electrochemical CO 2 reduction performance catalyzed by SnO 2 under constant cathodic potential ( E c ) and pulsed modes with periodic cathodic ( E c ) and anodic ( E a ) potentials. The latter strategy shows higher formate selectivity because pulsed electrolysis can regenerate active SnO x phase. This work enables the control of CO 2 reduction selectivity by tuning the applied potential program. The performance of electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is determined by multiple factors, including the optimization of catalysts and electrolyser, along with the electrolysis technique. Recently, pulsed electrolysis has been found to tailor the selectivity and prolong the stability of CO 2 RR on a variety of catalysts, with the most focus on Cu-based materials. The investigation of pulsed electrolysis on Sn-based materials remains at early stage. Herein, we evaluate the CO 2 reduction selectivity of tin oxide electrocatalyst under constant potential electrolysis (CPE) and pulsed potential electrolysis (PPE). Tin oxide achieves higher selectivity toward formate under PPE conditions in comparison with CPE. Induced by applied potential, tin oxide catalyst undergoes obvious reconstruction and into the composite of Sn-SnO 2 in the process of CO 2 reduction under both PPE and CPE conditions. The high selectivity under PPE condition is ascribed to the formation of SnO x on the catalyst surface due to the applied anodic potential.