Electrochemical Reduction of CO2: Influence of Pre-treating the Carbon Support

Abstract

The production of useful chemicals by electroreducing CO₂ it is a promising approach to reduce the levels of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. This is not a straightforward process due to the high stability of the CO₂ molecule and low selectivity however, these barriers can be overcome by using an appropriate catalyst. This research focus on the effect of pre-treating the carbon supports before incorporating the catalyst on the electroreduction of CO₂. We found that the electrochemical behaviour of the carbon supports is modified by the nature of the pre-treatment used. From the structure perspective, the results showed partial destruction of the carbon structure mainly after the oxidative treatments nevertheless, the introduction of defect sites in the carbon structure contributed to catalyst performance. This improvement was proved by the LSV data that showed the reduction of the current associated with the hydrogen reduction reaction.