Facile and large-scale production of Ag nanoparticles for selective electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction

Electrochemical CO2 reduction to carbon monoxide (CO) is immensely important for sustainable CO2 recycling. In this study, we established a facile synthetic method for large-scale production of Ag nanoparticles, which can be used for the selective electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO. Thermal decomposition and reduction of AgNO3 produced Ag nanoparticles on a gram-scale in high yield (over 90%) with a homogeneous size distribution. The oleylamine-capped Ag nanoparticles were quasi-spherical with diameters of 9 +/- 2 nm. Ag nanoparticles are capable of electrochemical CO2 reduction to CO with high activity and stability. The CO selectivity of the catalyst was in the vicinity of 90% over a wide potential range and reached 94.2% at -1.4 V vs. RHE. The Ag nanoparticles showed good stability over 24 h. Different surface functional groups, for example, thiol and citrate were investigated to understand their influence on the variation in CO selectivity.