Issue 10, 2022

Formation and growth characteristics of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO2 reduction

Abstract

Synthesis of carbon nanostructures at room temperature and under atmospheric pressure is challenging but it can provide significant impact on the development of many future advanced technologies. Here, the formation and growth characteristics of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO2 reduction reactions (CO2RR) are demonstrated. Under a ternary electrolyte system containing [BMIm]+[BF4], propylene carbonate, and water, a mixture of sp2/sp3 carbon allotropes were grown on the facets of Ag nanocrystals as building blocks. We show that (i) upon sufficient energy supplied by an electric field, (ii) the presence of negatively charged nascent Ag clusters, and (iii) as a function of how far the C–C coupling reaction of CO2RR (10–390 min) has advanced, the growth of nanostructured carbon can be divided into three stages: Stage 1: sp3-rich carbon and diamond seed formation; stage 2: diamond growth and diamond–graphite transformation; and stage 3: amorphous carbon formation. The conversion of CO2 and high selectivity for the solid carbon products (>95%) were maintained during the full CO2RR reaction length of 390 min. The results enable further design of the room-temperature production of nanostructured carbon allotropes and/or the corresponding metal-composites by a viable negative CO2 emission technology.

Graphical abstract: Formation and growth characteristics of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO2 reduction

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
21 Dec 2021
Accepted
10 Mar 2022
First published
11 Mar 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Nanoscale Adv., 2022,4, 2255-2267

Formation and growth characteristics of nanostructured carbon films on nascent Ag clusters during room-temperature electrochemical CO2 reduction

S. Watmanee, R. Nganglumpoon, N. Hongrutai, P. Pinthong, P. Praserthdam, S. Wannapaiboon, P. Á. Szilágyi, Y. Morikawa and J. Panpranot, Nanoscale Adv., 2022, 4, 2255 DOI: 10.1039/D1NA00876E

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