Porous Indium Nanocrystals on Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks for High‐Performance CO2‐to‐Formate Electrocatalytic Conversion

Abstract

Ever‐increasing emissions of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) cause global environmental and climate challenges. Inspired by biological photosynthesis, developing effective strategies NeuNlto up‐cycle CO2 into high‐value organics is crucial. Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is highly promising to convert CO2 into economically viable carbon‐based chemicals or fuels under mild process conditions. Herein, mesoporous indium supported on multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (mp‐In@MWCNTs) is synthesized via a facile wet chemical method. The mp‐In@MWCNTs electrocatalysts exhibit high CO2RR performance in reducing CO2 into formate. An outstanding activity (current density −78.5 mA cm−2), high conversion efficiency (Faradaic efficiency of formate over 90%), and persistent stability (~30 h) for selective CO2‐to‐formate conversion are observed. The outstanding CO2RR process performance is attributed to the unique structures with mesoporous surfaces and a conductive network, which promote the adsorption and desorption of reactants and intermediates while improving electron transfer. These findings provide guiding principles for synthesizing conductive metal‐based electrocatalysts for high‐performance CO2 conversion.