Densely Packed, Ultra Small SnO Nanoparticles for Enhanced Activity and Selectivity in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction.

Controlling the selectivity in electrochemical CO2 reduction is an unsolved challenge. While tin (Sn) has emerged as a promising non-precious catalyst for CO2 electroreduction, most Sn-based catalysts produce formate as the major product, which is less desirable than CO in terms of separation and further use. Tin monoxide (SnO) nanoparticles supported on carbon black were synthesized and assembled and their application in CO2 reduction was studied. Remarkably high selectivity and partial current densities for CO formation were obtained using these SnO nanoparticles compared to other Sn catalysts. The high activity is attributed to the ultra-small size of the nanoparticles (2.6 nm), while the high selectivity is attributed to a local pH effect arising from the dense packing of nanoparticles in the conductive carbon black matrix.