Plasma-surface-modified SnO2-CuCl nanocomposite for highly selective electrocatalytic CO2 conversion

Conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals via electrochemical methods is a promising approach for mitigating global CO2 emissions and transiting towards green chemical production. In this work, a tin oxide-copper chloride (SnO2-CuCl) nanocomposite catalyst for efficient CO2 conversion is developed using low-temperature atmospheric-pressure plasmas. The SnO2-CuCl catalyst which acquired a unique structure subjected to the dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma (SnO2-CuCl-DBD), effectively inhibits the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in the electrocatalytic process. Compared with the untreated SnO2-CuCl sample, the H2 generation efficiency of the SnO2-CuCl-DBD electrocatalyst decreased from 9.79 to 3.41 %. The demonstrated efficiency of SnO2-CuCl-DBD catalyst for conversion of CO2 to C1 products (formate and CO) is 94.37 % at 1.8 V (vs Ag/AgCl), which is very competitive to the reported state-of-the-art catalyst. The outcomes of this research provide a new practical surface science approach for engineering advanced electrocatalysts for effective conversion of CO2 into valueadded chemical products.