Jean C. da Cruz, Ricardo M. e Silva, Gelson T. S. T. da Silva, Lucia H. Mascaro and Caue Ribeiro
{"title":"Recycling spent batteries to green innovation: a CuCo-based composite as an electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction†","authors":"Jean C. da Cruz, Ricardo M. e Silva, Gelson T. S. T. da Silva, Lucia H. Mascaro and Caue Ribeiro","doi":"10.1039/D4SE00368C","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p >The reuse of solid and gaseous waste is necessary to achieve a significant advance toward more sustainable and eco-friendly processes. It is a challenge in the electronic industry, where the materials are generally expensive and toxic (if disposed of in nature), requiring strategies for maximum material recovery. Here, we report a strategy to recycle lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), preparing a copper–cobalt composite catalyst designed to operate in electrochemical CO<small><sub>2</sub></small> reduction to hydrocarbons. The proposed method allows fast and easy electrodeposition of a thin layer of spherical Cu/Co nanoparticles over a conductive substrate. The electrodes were assessed for their CO<small><sub>2</sub></small> reduction activity at different potentials (−0.13, −0.33, and −0.53 V <em>vs.</em> RHE). As a result, we achieved different products such as methanol, acetic acid, ethanol, and hydrogen with selectivity according to the applied potential. The highest production and faradaic efficiency for C<small><sub>1+</sub></small> compounds were for methanol, reaching 103 μmol mg<small><sub>cat</sub></small> and 65% after 3 h of reaction at an applied potential of −0.13 V <em>vs.</em> RHE. A proposed scheme, based on <em>in situ</em> FTIR spectra using D<small><sub>2</sub></small>O, suggests that CO<small><sub>2</sub></small> initially undergoes one-electron reduction, forming *CO<small><sub>ads</sub></small>, which acts as a stable intermediate on the Cu surface. The Cu surface predominantly drives the reaction despite its higher amount in the CuCo-based composites. From that, various pathways can arise from the protonation of the intermediate, leading to the production of C<small><sub>2+</sub></small> alcohols in smaller quantities or C<small><sub>1</sub></small> alcohols in larger quantities and intensity.</p>","PeriodicalId":104,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Energy & Fuels","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sustainable Energy & Fuels","FirstCategoryId":"88","ListUrlMain":"https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2024/se/d4se00368c","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"CHEMISTRY, PHYSICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The reuse of solid and gaseous waste is necessary to achieve a significant advance toward more sustainable and eco-friendly processes. It is a challenge in the electronic industry, where the materials are generally expensive and toxic (if disposed of in nature), requiring strategies for maximum material recovery. Here, we report a strategy to recycle lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), preparing a copper–cobalt composite catalyst designed to operate in electrochemical CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons. The proposed method allows fast and easy electrodeposition of a thin layer of spherical Cu/Co nanoparticles over a conductive substrate. The electrodes were assessed for their CO2 reduction activity at different potentials (−0.13, −0.33, and −0.53 V vs. RHE). As a result, we achieved different products such as methanol, acetic acid, ethanol, and hydrogen with selectivity according to the applied potential. The highest production and faradaic efficiency for C1+ compounds were for methanol, reaching 103 μmol mgcat and 65% after 3 h of reaction at an applied potential of −0.13 V vs. RHE. A proposed scheme, based on in situ FTIR spectra using D2O, suggests that CO2 initially undergoes one-electron reduction, forming *COads, which acts as a stable intermediate on the Cu surface. The Cu surface predominantly drives the reaction despite its higher amount in the CuCo-based composites. From that, various pathways can arise from the protonation of the intermediate, leading to the production of C2+ alcohols in smaller quantities or C1 alcohols in larger quantities and intensity.
期刊介绍:
Sustainable Energy & Fuels will publish research that contributes to the development of sustainable energy technologies with a particular emphasis on new and next-generation technologies.