In-Situ Liquid Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy and Electron Diffraction Provides Mechanistic Insight into Electrochemical CO2 Reduction on Palladium/Palladium Hydride Catalysts

Electrochemical conversion of CO2 (CO2R) offers a sustainable route for producing fuels and chemicals. Pd-based catalysts are effective for selective conversion of CO2 into formate at low overpotentials and CO/H2 at high overpotentials. Furthermore, Pd catalysts undergo morphology and phase structure transformations under reaction conditions that are not well understood. Herein, in-situ liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (LP-TEM) and select area diffraction (SAD) measurements under CO2R conditions is applied to track the morphology and Pd/PdHx phase interconversion as a function of electrode potential, respectively. Correlating in-situ characterization with electrochemical CO2R activity/selectivity measurements, density functional theory and micro-kinetic analyses, the change in Pd/PdHx catalyst selectivity from formate at low overpotentials towards CO/H2 at higher overpotentials is found to result from electrode potential-dependent thermodynamic changes in the reaction energetics and not morphological or phase structure changes, providing insight that can guide advanced understanding and design of improved performance catalysts.