Print light synthesis of Ni catalysts for CO2RR

The electroreduction of CO₂ into valuable chemicals provides a sustainable pathway to mitigate GHG emissions while addressing pressing energy and environmental challenges. This study focuses on a scalable and cost-effective process for fabricating cathodes with Ni-based catalysts to convert CO₂ into CO by reactive inkjet printing. Metal precursor-based inks were formulated for the process and printed using a custom-built inkjet printer. Post-printing using a xenon flash lamp was employed to reduce the nickel metal precursor into active catalyst structures. The full process is called print light synthesis (Figure 1). This method reduces energy consumption and production time compared to conventional high-temperature synthesis. SEM/EDX and XRD analysis confirmed uniform catalyst deposition and predominant presence of metallic Ni after the print light synthesis process. Microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry (MP-AES) analysis evidenced a conversion rate of approximately 80% from nickel precursor into metallic Ni. Electrochemical characterizations, including cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry coupled to gas chromatography analysis, confirmed the efficiency of the synthesized Ni/C PLS catalyst (0.5 mg_Ni/cm²) for selective CO₂ conversion into CO, with a faradaic efficiency of 64% at -0.75V (vs RHE).