Driving up the Electrocatalytic Performance for Carbon Dioxide Conversion through Interface Tuning in Graphene Oxide-Bismuth Oxide Nanocomposites

The integration of graphene oxide (GO) into nanostructured Bi2O3 electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction (CO2RR) brings up remarkable improvements in terms of performance toward formic acid (HCOOH) production. The GO scaffold is able to facilitate electron transfers toward the active Bi2O3 phase, amending for the high metal oxide (MO) intrinsic electric resistance, resulting in activation of the CO2 with smaller overpotential. Herein, the structure of the GO-MO nanocomposite is tailored according to two synthetic protocols, giving rise to two different nanostructures, one featuring reduced GO (rGO) supporting Bi@Bi2O3 core-shell nanoparticles (NP) and the other GO supporting fully oxidized Bi2O3 NP. The two structures differentiate in terms of electrocatalytic behavior, suggesting the importance of constructing a suitable interface between the nanocarbon and the MO, as well as between MO and metal.