Bismuth Oxychloride Dispersed on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon as Catalyst for the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to Formate

Electrochemical reduction of CO2 has received significant interest for converting CO2 to value added products and closing the carbon cycle. Recent advances through catalyst development have aided in satisfying the requirements of achieving a high product selectivity, activity and long-term stability. Among various industrially valuable products, formic acid has found numerous applications such asin fuel cells and textile industry. In this work, we report the synthesis of bismuth oxychloride dispersed on nitrogen-doped carbon through a facile ion adsorption process using bismuth acetate, hydrochloric acid and urea as precursors, and discuss its performance as an electrocatalyst for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 to formate. The results show that bismuth oxychloride dispersed on nitrogen-doped carbon has good catalytic activity for CO2 reduction to formate in 0.5 M KHCO3, achieving a maximum faradaic efficiency of 84.3 % at -0.87 V versus RHE. The catalyst is found to be stable for 5 h of continuous operation and achieves a turnover frequency of 146.36 h(-1).