(677h) Surface Behaviors of Electrodeposited Tin Oxide on Selected Substrates and Their Effectiveness in CO2 Electro-Reduction

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) effects on greener energy remain the topic of discussion in the need to direct new ways to sustainability. Electro-sequestration of CO₂ is being pursued as a promising route leading to many studies in this area. Findings have shown the effectiveness of electrocatalytic conversion of CO₂ to useful chemicals. However, high over-potentials to produce efficient current densities, coupled with a vast range of faradaic efficiencies, and issues on stability and longevity have been the major drawbacks. Post transition metal oxides have shown promise to CO₂ reduction, among which tin oxide (SnO₂) is the most cost effective and least toxic. But the reported range of current density, and faradaic efficiency using a SnO₂ catalyst is sporadic. In this work, the reduction of CO₂ is investigated by focusing on electrode materials, specifically, on surface behaviors of the anode structures. Since SnO₂ has shown great potential for CO₂ reduction, our aim is to investigate this material further. Thus, the objective is to study the cathodic electrodeposition characteristics of some notable substrates- glassy carbon, indium tin oxide, tin, and their alloys- as they interact with SnO₂ catalyst. The result of our study and the effectiveness of these materials to reduce CO₂ will be presented.