Design and Characterization of Carbon Supported Bismuth Catalyst for Electroreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formate

To address the issue of excessive carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, many scientists have developed an approach called Electroreduction of CO2 (CO2ER), which can convert CO2 into useful compounds, such as formic acid, methane, ethylene, and more. This study synthesized carbon-supported Bi nanoparticles as a electrocatalyst for the electroreduction of CO2 to formate. The aim of this research was to develop a Bi-based electrocatalyst that can be easily produced on a large scale, as existing Bi-based catalysts are challenging to manufacture in bulk. This M.S. thesis presents the process of synthesizing the catalysts and conducting further electroreduction experiments. Additionally, it reports the surface measurement results of the synthesized carbon-supported Bi particles. The Faradaic Efficiency (FE%) of the carbon-supported Bi particles was 70%, which is a 50% increase compared to the empty experiment. The comparison between carbon-supported Bi particles and a massive Bi rod is also discussed. Moreover, the effect of different catholytes, including KHCO3, KCl, and K2SO4 solutions, is further examined.