Lysine‐Functionalized SnO2 for Efficient CO2 Electroreduction into Formate

Abstract Electroreduction of CO2 to HCOO− can be considered as the most economically valuable process. Herein, we developed lysine‐functionalized SnO2 nanoparticles (SnO2‐lys) as an efficient catalyst for the electroreduction of CO2 into HCOO−. During CO2 electroreduction, SnO2‐lys achieved a Faradaic efficiency for HCOO− of higher than 80% over a wide range of applied potentials from −0.5 V to −2.3 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE). Notably, the partial current density for HCOO− reached as high as −351.9 mA cm−2 at −2.3 V vs. RHE. On account of kinetic analysis and mechanistic study, lysine‐functionalized SnO2 facilitated faradaic process and accelerated reaction kinetics via enhancing the CO2 activation, thus promoting the catalytic performance of the electroreduction of CO2 into HCOO−.