A defective bismuth–indium catalyst promotes water dissociation for selective carbon dioxide electroreduction to HCOOH

Abstract

Electroreduction of CO₂ to formic acid (HCOOH) is promising for CO₂ utilization but remains a substantial challenge due to the lack of high-efficiency electrocatalysts. Herein, the defective BiIn bimetallic catalyst derived from a P-doped BiIn pre-catalyst is developed, which enables CO₂ conversion to HCOOH with high activity and selectivity. Mechanistic investigations demonstrate that: (i) the interaction between Bi and In orbitals optimizes the adsorption strength of the key intermediate *OCHO; and (ii) the P leakage could induce the generation of defective BiIn during the self-reconstruction process, which strengthens *OH adsorption, resulting in an accelerated water dissociation and promoted CO₂ reduction. The defective BiIn@P catalyst exhibits a 97.3% faradaic efficiency at a current density of 500 mA cm⁻² in alkaline electrolytes. This work deepens our understanding of the CO₂ reduction mechanism on a BiIn-based catalyst, guiding in the design of advanced CO₂R catalysts.