Comparison of Au, Ag Electrode in Carbon Dioxide Electrochemical Reduction under the Same Condition

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) has been studied on various metal electrodes including main group and transition elements in aqueous solution. Of these electrodes, silver and gold are found to have high catalytic activity for the conversion of CO2 to CO with considerably high Faradaic efficiencies. However, no work has been done to compare the electrocatalytical property of these two electrodes in the same electrochemical system and under the same condition. In present work, we investigate the electrocatalytical property of Ag and Au electrodes in the same electrolysis cell and under the same condition. We found Au electrode exhibits higher current density and higher Faradaic efficiency for CO formation than Ag electrode.