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Title: Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction using a Silver–Zinc Alloy
Abstract

We report on CO2electroreduction activity and selectivity of a polycrystalline AgZn foil in aqueous bicarbonate electrolyte. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) measurements show that the alloy foil was slightly enriched in zinc both at the surface and in the bulk, with a surface alloy composition of 61.3±5.4 at % zinc and with Ag5Zn8as the most prominent bulk phase. AgZn is active for CO2reduction; CO is the main product, likely due to the weak CO binding energy of the surface, with methane and methanol emerging as minor products. Compared to pure silver and pure zinc foils, enhancements in activity and selectivity for methane and methanol are observed. A five‐fold increase is observed in the combined partial current densities for methane and methanol at −1.43 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), representing a four‐ to six‐fold increase in faradaic efficiency. Such enhancements indicate the existence of a synergistic effect between silver and zinc at the surface of the alloy that contributes to the enhanced formation of further reduced products.

 
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NSF-PAR ID:
10034369
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Energy Technology
Volume:
5
Issue:
6
ISSN:
2194-4288
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 955-961
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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