UNS:Surface and Electrochemical Processes in Co-Electrolysis of Carbon Dioxide and Water

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The project targets co-electrolysis of carbon dioxide and water in high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) to make synthesis gas, which can be further reacted to produce fuels and chemicals. Although attractive from a sustainability standpoint, there are many technological hurdles to overcome before co-electrolysis can become commercially feasible. The study will investigate the surface reactions at the electrode to determine their mechanisms, kinetics, and sensitivity to different materials. The resulting scientific insight should lead to the design of improved co-electrolyzers. The PI will couple the work with educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as learning experiences and research exposure for high-school and community college students. Co-electrolysis of carbon dioxide and water to produce synthesis gas is a daunting technological challenge, but one with huge benefits to energy and overall sustainability if it can be achieved. One key to achieving success is to build fundamental understanding of the surface reaction processes involved, and use the resulting insight to design better catalysts. The project will focus on mixed conducting ceria and perovskite SOEC cathodes with the goal of constructing kinetic models of surface reactions. Specifically, the project will combine analysis of gas phase reaction products and electrochemical measurements to elucidate catalytic mechanisms and reaction pathways, including rate limiting steps. The resulting insight will be used to understand dependence of electrolysis reactions on properties of the cathode, with potential for extending the general approach to predict new cathode materials and designs. The fundamental understanding that will come from the proposed work will potentially impact a broad range of electrocatalytic applications with related benefits to energy and sustainability. On the education side, the PI (Stuve) teaches two energy related classes each year that are innovative in nature and highly suscribed. The project also supports a novel outreach program - the Energy eXperience Project (EXP) - which gives high school and community college students an opportunity to experience hands on energy-related work at the University of Washington through an annual symposium.