Bismuth with abundant defects for electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction and Zn–CO₂ batteries

Abstract

To regulate the electronic structure of Bi sites and enhance their intrinsic activity, metal Bi with abundant defects was constructed. The optimized sample displayed a higher selectivity (93.9% at -0.9 V) and a larger current density (-10 mA cm^-2 at -1.0 V) towards electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction to formate, which can be mainly attributed to abundant defect sites and the optimized electronic structure. The assembled Zn-CO₂ batteries displayed a power density of 1.16 mW cm^-2 and a cycling stability up to 22 h. This work deepens the research of Bi-based catalysts towards CO₂ transformation and related energy devices.