Exploiting the Functionality of Cerium Oxide-Modified Carbon Nanohorns Catalysts Toward Enhanced CO2 Reduction Performance

The suitable interfacial combination of CeO2 and oxidized carbon nanohorns (CeO2@oxCNHs) is instrumental to the control of the activity and selectivity in CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). This study presents a newly developed synthetic approach that integrates the CeO2 and CNH to form extended interfacial domains, resulting in a higher performance for CO2RR as compared with previously reported ceria-nanocarbon catalysts. In particular, detailed electrochemical characterization reveals that the CeO2@oxCNHs nanocomposite synthesized with this newly developed solvothermal method exhibits up to ten times higher current density (j) than its counterpart prepared by conventional sol-gel method and can be effectively integrated into a state-of-the-art gas diffusion electrode (GDE) device. The combination of high-surface area oxCNH with the gas diffusion electrode configuration boosts the CeO2 efficiency in converting CO2 to products involving C─C couplings as ethanol and acetaldehyde, even at very low overpotentials, offering a promising pathway for developing nanocomposite materials for CO2 reduction.