Electrochemical CO₂/CO Reduction and C-C Coupling Path for Mimicking Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis over Cadmium Electrodes

Converting CO2 into C- n>2 hydrocarbons has been a significant challenge, but recentresearchhas shown that cadmium (Cd) can be used to produce C2-7 hydrocarbons (C n H2n and C n H2n+2) directly through electrochemical CO2 reductionin a K2HPO4/KH2PO4 buffer.The production of hydrocarbons was found to be enhanced by engineeringthe interface of the Cd surface with other transition metals. Thisprocess imitates the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) synthesis,which involves surface polymerization reactions that couple carbonatoms together, resulting in the formation of long-chain hydrocarbonsvia the insertion of CO and CH x molecules.While the formate path was almost completely suppressed, the CO pathremained. While the current Faradaic efficiency may be low, this studyhighlights the potential of electrochemical CO reduction for Cd. Thestudy demonstrates that CO and H can directly participate in F-Tsynthesis through electrochemistry. Furthermore, Cd was observed torecrystallize into stacked wall structures resembling flowers afterthe electrochemical process. As a result, this research provides crucialinsights that can aid in a better understanding of C-C couplingpaths via electrochemistry.