Authors: Justin L Oberst HueiRu “Molly” Jhong Paul J A Kenis Andrew A Gewirth
Publish Date: 2015/05/09
Volume: 20, Issue: 4, Pages: 1149-1154
Abstract
Due to increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increased attention has been given to minimizing their emissions and reducing current levels Primarily focusing on CO2 routes towards reducing atmospheric levels include capture sequestration and conversion For CO2 conversion Au electrocatalysts have demonstrated high CO2 reduction activity to CO which can then be further converted to various synfuels or commodity chemicals In this work we further probe Au electrocatalysts by utilizing a Agbased model using Ncontaining additives such as pyrazole and benzotriazole and surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy Surfaceenhanced Raman spectroscopy SERS reveals that only in the presence of Ncontaining additives is a stronger CO band seen These additives do not affect the CO2 reduction mechanism of Au as found by Tafel and product distribution analysis We also demonstrate enhancement of the CO2 reduction rate on Au by utilizing a known CO2 scavenger ethanolamine adsorbed on the Au surface This result suggests that improving CO2 reduction should focus on the reactant side of the Sabatier plot
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