EAGER: Influence of Ionic Liquids on Product Selectivity in CO2 Electroreduction over Copper Catalysts

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Carbon dioxide (CO2) electroreduction holds promise for producing fuels and chemicals from waste CO2 and renewable electricity. Opportunities exist to produce more high order hydrocarbons and alcohols, however controlling product selectivity and having high activity remain as the key challenges to overcome. The proposed exploratory research project aims to investigate the use of copper (Cu) and ionic liquids (ILs) as co-catalysts for the conversion of CO2 to valuable chemicals and fuels. This is a high risk-high payoff project that may lead to the development of technologies for on-demand conversion of CO2 to fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity.Breakthroughs in achieving high product selectivity for hydrocarbons and alcohols are possible by using ILs as dilute aqueous additives in CO2 electroreduction over Cu. The central hypothesis of the proposed EAGER project is that the utilization of ILs as co-catalysts at low concentrations in aqueous electrolytes can suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction and enhance CO2 electroreduction selectivity towards higher order hydrocarbons and alcohols on Cu catalysts. By modifying the IL cation-anion pair, the thermophysical and chemical properties of the IL can be altered dramatically. The proposed research plan seeks to identify the key properties an IL must have in order to be a good co-catalyst for the enhancement of the faradaic efficiency towards hydrocarbons and alcohols. To test the hypothesis, the work is split into two main objectives: 1) Identify key IL structure properties that influence faradaic efficiency of CO2t electroreduction, and 2) Determine if there are synergistic effects between IL and Cu morphology on CO2 electroreduction faradaic efficiency. The scientific insights developed for selecting ILs based upon their structure-property relationships will be transferable to other electrochemical systems, significantly impacting the way ILs are used. The proposed research plan may also be applicable to other electrochemical synthesis methods, such as electrochemical ammonia synthesis and electrochemical hydrogenations, and other electrochemical systems, such as batteries, fuel cells and waste treatment. The educational broader impacts of the proposal include scientific workforce development, particularly of women in STEM fields.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.