High-Performance Electrocatalytic CO₂ Reduction for CO Generation Using Hydrophobic Porous Carbon Supported Au

Electrocatalyticallyreducing gaseous CO2 to high value-addedchemical fuels is an ideal method to address energy and environmentalissues. To achieve high Faradic efficiency (FE) of specific productswith high current density for the CO2 reduction reaction(CO2RR), it is crucial to design suitable electrocatalyststo understand the relationship of structure and performance. Herein,we synthesized a hydrophobic porous carbon scaffold loaded with Aunanoparticles to explore the effect of the porous structure on CO2RR performance. As high as 92% FE of CO is achieved over theoptimized 20%Au/FPC-800 electrocatalyst within the applied potentialrange of -0.7 to -1.1 V versus RHE, and its currentdensity toward CO2RR is also much larger than that of otherthree electrocatalysts for comparison. Based on the characterizationof CO2 adsorption/desorption, Tafel slope, electrochemicalimpedance spectroscopy (EIS), and in situ attenuated total reflection-surface-enhancedinfrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) analysis, it is proposedthat the hydrophobic porous structure favors CO2 storage,which can enhance the mass transfer of low-soluble CO2 moleculesto the electrocatalyst interface during CO2RR. Our findingsprovide a strategy for achieving high FE of converting CO2 to generate a CO product with a high current density. Hydrophobic porous carbon enhanced CO2 mass transferto achieve high FE of a CO product with high current density for electrocatalyticCO(2)RR.