DEVELOPMENT OF BISMUTH BASED CATALYST FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL CONVERSION OF CARBON DIOXIDE INTO FORMIC ACID

Abstract

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2 ECR) is recognized as one of the most promising and efficient approaches for converting CO2 into valuable products while simultaneously mitigating global warming. In this study, a novel bismuth based catalyst was synthesized and deposited on an acid treated tin foil for CO2 ECR into formic acid. The catalyst was characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The optimum performance of the synthesized catalyst was achieved at an applied current of 73 mA, a catholyte concentration of 0.33 M, and a catalyst dosage of 6.5 mg. Under these optimized conditions, a formic acid concentration of 1020 mg/L was obtained with a corresponding Faradaic efficiency of 67%. Additionally, the catalyst demonstrated exceptional stability, maintaining its electrochemical activity for 33 hours while consistently producing approximately 13,000 mg/L of formic acid every 11 hours.