STUDENT SEMINAR
By
Akhila S
Topic: Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon dioxide
Date & Time: 13th January 2022 at 4.00 p.m. through MICROSOFT TEAMS
| Join conversation
teams.microsoft.com |
Abstract:
The level of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere has risen dramatically over the past few decades after industrialization. CO2constitutes about 65% of today’s total greenhouse gas emissions.This has significantly perturbedearth’s natural carbon cycle and is considered a primary driver of climate change.CO2could be captured and converted to useful chemicals and fuels using various methods such as thermochemical,biochemical, photochemical andelectrochemicalprocesses, for example. Among these, the electrochemical routeisthe most promising owing to the ease of purification of reduction products and higher efficiency.The electrochemical route involves multiple reaction steps, and therefore slow reaction kinetics. Electrocatalysts that decrease kinetic barriers forCO2electroreductionare critical for increasing electro-reduction efficiency. In this seminar, I will first introduce various steps involved in the electrochemical reduction of CO2. Then, I will discuss the uniqueness of copper-based catalysts for electrochemical reduction of CO2into higher hydrocarbons which can be used as chemical feedstock and fuels. Also, I will discuss different catalytic pathways involved in the electrochemical reduction of CO2on copper-based catalyst surfaces. With the help of two examples, I will discuss the influence of external parameters like potential, pH and electrode design on the catalytic pathway and efficiency ofcopper-based catalysts.Finally, I will touch upon the importance of identifying a suitable CO2-richsource and its conversion to useful chemical feedstock and/or fuels.
References:
- Nat. Catal. 2019, 2, 648–658
- ACS Catal. 2020, 10, 3, 1754–1768
- J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 42, 13802–13805
- J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2016, 7, 8, 1471–1477
- Science 2018, 360, 783–787