Molecularly Engineered Silver(I) Gel Catalysts for Industrial-Level CO₂ Electroreduction

Area of Science:

• Electrochemistry
• Materials Science
• Catalysis

Background:

• Power-to-X technologies are crucial for integrating intermittent renewable energy sources.
• Converting surplus electricity into chemical energy carriers, like hydrogen and fuels, is essential.
• Electrochemical CO2 conversion offers a pathway towards a circular carbon economy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and implement a novel triazine-based ligand system (TPT-1) and its silver(I) complexes.
• To investigate the electrochemical CO2 reduction performance of these silver complexes.
• To evaluate their potential for efficient CO2 conversion in Power-to-X applications.

Main Methods:

• Solvochemical and mechanochemical synthesis of the triazine ligand (TPT-1) and its silver(I) complexes (Ag(TPT-1)2 and Ag2(TPT-1)2).
• Characterization using NMR, UV/vis, FT-IR, XPS, and HRMS.
• Electrocatalytic activity assessment via cyclic voltammetry and heterogeneous electrochemical cells (H-type and zero-gap).

Main Results:

• The synthesized silver(I) complexes demonstrated stable and selective CO2-to-CO conversion.
• Achieved high Faradaic efficiencies of approximately 80%.
• Reached energy efficiencies of 24% and single-pass conversions of 20% at 200 mA cm-2.

Conclusions:

• The TPT-1 ligand and its silver complexes are effective electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction.
• This system shows promise for efficient CO2 utilization in Power-to-X strategies.
• The findings contribute to developing sustainable carbon management and renewable energy storage solutions.