CO2 REDUCTION TO FORMIC ACID USING CuSn BIMETALLIC ELECTROCATALYST

Abstract

Concentration of carbon dioxide gas increases every year, where CO2 gas is one of the largest contributing gases to greenhouse gases. The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas in the atmosphere can cause an increase in the earth's temperature and climate change. Therefore, technology is needed that can reduce the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. One effective technology is to reduce CO2 into valuable chemicals by electrochemical methods. The products that can be produced from the CO2 reduction process are formic acid and syngas. A suitable electrocatalyst is needed to achieve an efficient process with selective products. In this study, the synthesis of CuSn electrocatalyst used in reducing CO2 to obtain the desired product was carried out. This research consists of 3 stages: catalyst synthesis, electrochemical tests, and reduction product tests. CuSn catalyst was synthesized using the galvanostatic electrodeposition method at a -1 A.cm-2 current for 30 seconds. CuSn catalyst was synthesized with various variations, namely, Cu100%, Cu75%Sn25%, Cu50%Sn50%, Cu25% Sn75%, and Sn100%. Electrochemical test results show that increasing Cu concentration in the catalyst will increase its electrocatalytic activity. HPLC results show that CuSn electrocatalyst is a selective catalyst in producing formic acid, while GC results show that CuSn electrocatalyst is not a selective catalyst for syngas production.