Ag Nanoparticle-Modified Metal Azole Framework for Enhancing the Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide

The electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2RR) into high-value-added products is considered to be a promising way to mitigate carbon emissions. However, it remains a challenge to design an efficient catalyst with an excellent performance. In this work, we synthesized a metal azole framework (MAF) by changing 2-methylimidazole ligands into 5-mercapto-1-methyltetrazole (MMT) for use as organic linkers and mercaptan groups as anchoring sites for the Ag nanoparticles. The Ag NPs@ MAF-MMT material displayed a wide potential window from −0.6 to −1.2 V vs. RHE, with a maximum CO Faradaic efficiency (FECO) over 90.5%, and a current density of 18 mA cm−2 at −1.1 V vs. RHE for 11 h in an H-cell. This work provides a new option to immobilize Ag nanoparticles in MAFs material for the exploration of carbon dioxide reduction catalysts.