Brass and Bronze as Effective CO2 Reduction Electrocatalysts

Electrochemically reducing CO2 into fuels using renewable electricity is a contemporary global challenge that requires significant advances in catalyst design. Photodeposition techniques were used to screen ternary alloys of Cu-Zn-Sn, which includes brass and bronze, for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO and formate. This analysis identified Cu0.2Zn0.4Sn0.4 and Cu0.2Sn0.8 to be capable of reaching Faradaic efficiencies of >80% for CO and formate formation, respectively, and capable of achieving partial current densities of 3 mA cm(-2) at an overpotential of merely 200 mV.