Driving up the Electrocatalytic Performance for Carbon Dioxide Conversion through Interface Tuning in Graphene...

The integration of graphene oxide (GO) into nanostructured Bi₂O₃ electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR) brings up remarkable improvements in terms of performance toward formic acid (HCOOH) production. The GO scaffold is able to facilitate electron transfers toward the active Bi₂O₃ phase, amending for the high metal oxide (MO) intrinsic electric resistance, resulting in activation of the CO₂ with smaller overpotential. Herein, the structure of the GO-MO nanocomposite is tailored according to two synthetic protocols, giving rise to two different nanostructures, one featuring reduced GO (rGO) supporting Bi@Bi₂O₃ core-shell nanoparticles (NP) and the other GO supporting fully oxidized Bi₂O₃ NP. The two structures differentiate in terms of electrocatalytic behavior, suggesting the importance of constructing a suitable interface between the nanocarbon and the MO, as well as between MO and metal.