Piezo-Electrocatalysis for CO2 Reduction Driven by Vibration

With rising CO2 emissions caused by the massive consumption of fossil fuels, it is highly desirable to develop strategies that adopt renewable energy to convert CO2 into value-added chemical feedstocks. Over the past decades, photocatalytic reduction of CO2 using light energy has attracted considerable attention. However, the advanced photocatalysis techniques cannot exert their action where light is unavailable. Here, a method for CO2 reduction on basis of vibration-driven piezoelectricity to yield a piezo-electrocatalysis effect which requires mechanical vibration rather than light, is proposed. Under mild vibration and sacrificial agent-free conditions, the piezoelectric BaTiO3 catalyst provides a suitable piezo-potential to overcome the redox potential of CO2 and convert it into CO with a maximum yield of 63.3 mu mol g(-1), achieving a reactivity comparable to those of photocatalysts. The piezo-electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction adds a new avenue in addition to the existing photocatalytic techniques by expanding the scope of energy utilization to promote carbon neutrality.