Work

Copper-tin composite bimetallic nanoparticles on bismuth vanadate nanoplate photocathodes for photoelectrochemical carbon dioxide reduction

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACTPhotoelectrochemically (PEC) CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) has emerged as one of the most promising methods to mitigate the environmental issues caused by the unlimited emission of greenhouse gases. Among metal-based catalysts, Copper (Cu)-based materials have negative adsorption energy to *CO and positive adsorption energy to *H. Copper-tin (CuSn) alloys have been widely reported for electrochemically reducing CO2RR and producing formic acid. However, bimetallic CuSn composite nanoparticles (CuSn NPs) have rarely been studied for PEC CO2RR. Herein, we chose the nontoxic and low-cost bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) nanoplates as the light-absorbing substrate and applied CuSn NPs on BiVO4 (CuSn NPs@BiVO4) to form a type-II heterojunction. The as-fabricated photocathode shows the highest photocurrent of -0.774 mA cm-2 at the applied voltage of -0.95 V vs. EAg/AgCl, which is 3 times higher than the pristine BiVO4 photocathode. This work demonstrates the potential of Cu-Sn bimetallic NPs and BiVO4 nanoplates for the PEC CO2RR.

Source: Materials Today Energy

DOI: 10.1016/j.mtener.2025.101861