Au/Pb Interface Allows the Methane Formation Pathway in Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction.

The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) to high-value chemicals is an attractive approach to create an artificial carbon cycle. Tuning the activity and product selectivity while maintaining long-term stability, however, remains a significant challenge. Here, we study a series of Au-Pb bimetallic electrocatalysts with different Au/Pb interfaces, generating carbon monoxide (CO), formic acid (HCOOH), and methane (CH ₄ ) as CO ₂ reduction products. The formation of CH ₄ is significant because it has only been observed on very few Cu-free electrodes. The maximum CH ₄ formation rate of 0.33 mA cm ^-2 was achieved when the most Au/Pb interfaces were present. In situ Raman spectroelectrochemical studies confirmed the stability of the Pb native substoichiometric oxide under the reduction conditions on the Au-Pb catalyst, which seems to be a major contributor to CH ₄ formation. Density functional theory simulations showed that without Au, the reaction would get stuck on the COOH intermediate, and without O, the reaction would not evolve further than the CHOH intermediate. In addition, they confirmed that the Au/Pb bimetallic interface (together with the subsurface oxygen in the model) possesses a moderate binding strength for the key intermediates, which is indeed necessary for the CH ₄ pathway. Overall, this study demonstrates how bimetallic nanoparticles can be employed to overcome scaling relations in the CO ₂ reduction reaction.
Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest.
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