Electron fixation of Sn2+/Cu+ bimetallic catalyst on flexible carbon fiber cloth for highly converting gaseous CO2 to formate at moderate potential

Designing highly active and selective electrocatalysts for converting CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels by electrochemical method is still a challenge. Herein, we have successfully fabricated a lotus-like morphology of Sn/Cu alloy on carbon fiber cloth via a facile electrodeposition method followed by air-dried treatment. Owing to the presence of Sn2+ and Cu+ on the surface of Sn/Cu alloy, this bimetallic Sn/Cu electrode exhibits the outstanding FE of formate with a maximum value of 95.81% at −1.07 V versus RHE, and the total current density at −0.97 V versus RHE keeping unchanged at 33.78 mA cm−2 under the 20 h electrolysis even with the replacement of electrolyte. This work provides an effective strategy for highly boosting the selective production of formate from electrochemical CO2 reduction by stabilizing the intermediate valence of bimetallic alloy.