Descriptors for Electrochemical CO₂ Reduction in Imidazolium-Based Electrolytes

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂R) allows us to close the carbon cycle and store intermittent renewable energy into chemical products. Among these, syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is particularly valuable due to its high market share and the low energy required for its electrocatalytic production. In addition to catalyst optimization, lately, electrolyte modifications to achieve a suitable CO/H₂ ratio have also been considered. Ionic liquid (IL)-based electrolytes have enabled high faradaic efficiency toward CO, depending on the chemical properties of the IL. In this work, we rationalized through density functional theory (DFT) descriptors the competition between hydrogen evolution (HER) and CO₂R on silver in imidazolium-based electrolytes, developing a DFT-based analytical model. The electrolyte anion regulates the concentration ratio between cationic and carbene species of ILs cation, respectively, between the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (EMIM⁺) and carbene (EMIM:) species and between the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation (BMIM⁺) and carbene (BMIM:). The latter species, if formed, hinders the CO₂R by blocking the active sites or trapping CO₂ in solution. In the case of weak Lewis base anions as fluorinated ones, EMIM⁺ (BMIM⁺) cations, which serve as cocatalysts in CO₂R, are more abundant, allowing high CO partial current densities and high electrochemically active surface area. Applying the here-defined descriptors to ILs not yet tested makes it possible to predict the HER and CO₂R selectivity on silver, thus enabling guidelines for designing better ILs for CO₂R.