Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO₂ on the Dual-Film Electrodes Modified with Various Metal Complexes

Abstract

A highly negative overpotential is required to electrochemically reduce CO₂ owing to its chemical inertness. A key to solve this problem is how to activate CO₂ at electrode, and the development of electrocatalytic process with an electrode mediator is very important. We have proposed a catalytic process of CO₂ reduction at the modified electrode having two laminated films consisting of an inorganic conductor and a conducting polymer. As the inorganic conductor and the conducting polymer, Prussian blue (PB) and polyaniline (PAn) were used, respectively. In the present study, various metal complexes were fixed onto the conducting polymer, and the activation process of CO₂ reduction was monitored with in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic (FTIR) method.^1,2)