Selective electro-reduction of CO2 to formate on nanostructured Bi from reduction of BiOCl nanosheets

•A novel synthetic route for high-surface-area bismuth (HSA-Bi) is developed.•HSA-Bi shows superior activity towards reduction of CO2 than commercial Bi.•Reduction potential of CO2 is obviously lowered on HSA-Bi.•High Faradic efficiency (92%) of formate is obtained on HSA-Bi catalyst.•Stability and high current density are maintained during continuous electrolysis.

In this paper, we present our work on electrochemical reduction of CO2 under ambient conditions using a high-surface-area bismuth (HSA-Bi) catalyst, which is fabricated by electrochemical reduction of BiOCl nanosheets. This HSA-Bi catalyst exhibits surprising selectivity towards reduction of CO2 to formate with a high Faradic efficiency (~ 92%). In addition, the activity of this catalyst remains stable during long-time electrolysis and maximum current density of ~ 3.7 mA mg− 1 could be obtained. The high activity is attributed to the special nanostructure of catalyst, as indicated by lower overpotential of CO2 reduction on HSA-Bi than that on commercial Bi powder. The HSA-Bi catalyst is believed to be a promising catalyst for further application.

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