Pd-Decorated 2D MXene (2D Ti3C2Tix) as a High-Performance Electrocatalyst for Reduction of Carbon Dioxide into Fuels toward Climate Change Mitigation

Abstract

Palladium nanoparticles (Pd NPs) have attracted considerable attention recently for their excellent catalytic properties in various catalysis reactions. However, Pd NPs have some drawbacks, including their high cost, susceptibility to deactivation, and the possibility of poisoning by intermediate products. Herein, Pd nanoparticles with an average diameter of 6.5 nm were successfully incorporated on electronically transparent 2D MXene (Ti3C2Tix) nanosheets (Pd-MXene) by microwave irradiation. Considering the synergetic effects of ultra-fine Pd NPs, together with the intrinsic properties of 2D MXene, the obtained Pd-MXene showed a specific surface area of 97.5 m2g−1 and multiple pore channels that enabled excellent electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of CO2. Further, the 2D Pd-MXene hybrid nanocatalyst enables selective electroreduction of CO2 into selective production of CH3OH in ambient conditions by multiple electron transfer. A detailed explanation of the CO2RR mechanism is presented, and the faradic efficiency (FE) of CH3OH is tuned by varying the cell potential. Recyclability studies were conducted to demonstrate the practical application of CO2 reduction into selective production of CH3OH. In this study, metal and MXene interfaces were created to achieve a highly selective electroreduction of CO2 into fuels and other value-added chemical products.