Ag-MOF-derived 3D Ag dendrites used for the efficient electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO

Ag-based electrodes have emerged as important candidates for the industrial electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR) to form CO. Herein, an intrinsic versatile Ag electrode has been derived in situ from Ag-MOF on Ag foam (denoted as ER-AF), which exhibits the highest current density (57.2 mA cm−2) at a potential of −1.15 V vs. RHE reported to date for the formation of CO in a commonly used H-type cell. ER-AF has multiple-roles: The 3D dendrite structure promotes mass diffusion; the rich edges sites favor CO2 adsorption and conversion, and the highly exposed (111) facet facilitates the desorption of CO. Their cooperating functions result in the remarkable performance of ER-AF in the eCO2RR to form CO. This work offers an effective strategy to achieve high eCO2RR activity and selectivity by assembling the active and stable sites together on the MOF-derived materials.