Ni nanoparticle-decorated-MnO2 nanodendrites as highly selective and efficient catalysts for CO2 electroreduction

Ni nanoparticle-decorated-MnO2 nanodendrites supported on carbon fibers (Ni NPs/MnO2 NDs-CFs) are reported as efficient electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to formate, and they exhibit low CO2/HCOO− reduction overpotential, superior catalytic activity, high formate selectivity and high faradaic efficiency of over 85%. Further studies indicate that the strong electronic interactions between Ni and MnO2 in Ni NPs/MnO2 NDs-CFs can realize high hydrogen storage capacity and low energy barriers of the intermediates and products and can obviously promote the selective electroreduction of CO2 to formate. Furthermore, the electronic interactions induced by metal–metal oxide composites will promote the development of next generation high-performance catalysts for CO2 reduction.