CAREER: Elucidating How the Liquid Side of the Electrochemical Interface Controls Catalytic Selectivity during Carbon Dioxide Reduction

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Efficient use of carbon dioxide could provide sustainable routes to essential chemicals and fuels. Such processes could help reduce the carbon dioxide emissions that may contribute to environmental changes. The combined use of electricity and catalysis (electrocatalysis) to convert carbon dioxide to valuable products is a promising solution to this problem. The selective production of a single chemical instead of a mixture remains a great obstacle to the adoption of this technology. To address this challenge, Dr. Matthias Waegele is seeking to understand how the physical and chemical properties control the product selectivity of electrocatalytic processes. The insights derived from this project are critical for the design of carbon dioxide conversion processes with high product selectivity. Dr. Waegele is engaging non-academic communities and underrepresented undergraduate students in learning about chemistry's central role in developing sustainable energy sources. These activities include research internships for minority undergraduate students and workshops for high school students to promote participant interest in scientific careers.Dr. Matthias Waegele of Boston College is supported by the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry to study how the liquid side of the copper (Cu)/electrolyte interface exerts control over the product selectivity of electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction to hydrocarbons. To establish robust interfacial property/reactivity relationships, his research team is characterizing the electrocatalytic interface by surface-selective infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies while simultaneously monitoring the reaction products evolving from the same interface by differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS). Specifically, Dr. Waegele and co-workers are elucidating how cations, co-adsorbates, interfacial water, and the coverage, site-distribution, and dynamics of surface-adsorbed CO (a key intermediate in carbon dioxide reduction) affect interfacial properties and thereby impact catalytic selectivity. Dr. Waegele and his team are further testing the utility of their interfacial property/reactivity relationships by designing catalytic interfaces with high selectivities for hydrocarbon evolution. Dr. Waegele is actively engaged in synergistic educational activities to promote interest in how the chemical sciences contribute to the development of sustainable energy sources. The educational programs, which include research internships and workshops, target underrepresented undergraduates and non-academic communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.