Electrochemical CO 2 reduction on structured surfaces

1. Electrochemical CO2 reduction on structured surfaces PhD. Student: RecepKas Phone: +31-53-489 4230 Thesis advisor: Dr.Jonas Baltrusaitis E-mail: r.kas@utwente.nl Supervisor: Prof.GuidoMul URL: www.utwente.nl/tnw/pcs Research group: Photocatalytic Synthesis Research school: University of Twente Supported by: Nanonext-NL Period:2012-2016 • Introduction • CO2 is the thermodynamically favorable product of most combustion processes and known to significantly contribute to the greenhouse effect. At the same time, the conversion of CO2 to useful products is very attractive since CO2 is an abundant, non-toxic, a non-flammable carbon source. Developing a process for liquid fuel production from CO2is very attractive, since this would allow the use of the current transportation fuel infrastructure. The project thus focuses on development of an electrochemical process to selectively convert CO2 and H2O to liquid fuels. Electricity generated by sustainable energy sources (photovoltaics, wind energy etc.) could principally be used to drive such process. • Objective • In this project the aim is develop electrodes that have active sites to selectively convert the CO2 and H2O to useful products such as CO+H2, or hydrocarbons. In particular, copper surfaces are modified by electrodepositionand thermal oxidation to i) decrease the overpotentials associated with the formation of products, thus enhancing energy efficiency, and ii) increase the selectivity and lifetime of the catalyst. Furtermore, catalyst performance is evaluated in different reaction conditions such as electrolyte composition, temperature, and pressure. • Approach • An electrochemical CSTR cell is used allowing continuous electroreduction of CO2 (Figure 1). An example of a polycrystalline metal surface functionalized with nanoparticles is shown in Figure 2, prepared by a simple electrodeposition process and temperature treatment. • The morphology and thickness of the layer (Figure 2) were found to largely effect the performance in aqueous electrolytes. Production of technologically important hydrocarbons appears feasible. Figure 1: Set up for continuous electrochemical Reduction of CO2 to hydrocarbons. Figure 2: Nanoparticulate surfaces used for CO2 reduction