Exploiting the Functionality of Cerium Oxide‐Modified Carbon Nanohorns Catalysts Toward Enhanced CO 2 Reduction Performance

Abstract The suitable interfacial combination of CeO 2 and oxidized carbon nanohorns (CeO 2 @oxCNHs) is instrumental to the control of the activity and selectivity in CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR). This study presents a newly developed synthetic approach that integrates the CeO 2 and CNH to form extended interfacial domains, resulting in a higher performance for CO 2 RR as compared with previously reported ceria‐nanocarbon catalysts. In particular, detailed electrochemical characterization reveals that the CeO 2 @oxCNHs nanocomposite synthesized with this newly developed solvothermal method exhibits up to ten times higher current density ( j ) than its counterpart prepared by conventional sol‐gel method and can be effectively integrated into a state‐of‐the‐art gas diffusion electrode (GDE) device. The combination of high‐surface area oxCNH with the gas diffusion electrode configuration boosts the CeO 2 efficiency in converting CO 2 to products involving C─C couplings as ethanol and acetaldehyde, even at very low overpotentials, offering a promising pathway for developing nanocomposite materials for CO 2 reduction.