Converting Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel On Modified Electrode Surfaces

考虑到这些类型的催化过程提供了一种经济实惠的方式来利用化石燃料燃烧时产生的二氧化碳，二氧化碳是直接导致气候变化的关键温室气体，因此，所讨论的博士学位与可持续和绿色化学有着密切的联系。在一氧化碳、甲酸和甲醇中已经确定了一些可能的减少目标。一氧化碳是费托法的重要原料，而甲醇和甲酸是新型燃料电池的关键成分，未来可能会用于汽车工业。我们将研究基于6族和7族金属中心的新型和负担得起的催化剂的合成，这些催化剂具有多种配体，这些催化剂原则上也可以耦合到光阳极；使光驱动的二氧化碳减少发生。还将研究这些催化剂在离子液体中的行为，这可能与它们在正常溶液中的行为有很大不同。同样令人感兴趣的是，当磷酸盐锚定与固体TiO2结合时，催化剂的表面/界面化学性质，以及在同一体系中具有分子催化剂和氧化还原活性铜纳米粒子的协同效应。当然，博士学位将在分子尺度分析技术方面打下坚实的基础，特别是在光谱电化学方面，它可以提供对二氧化碳减少过程中发生的过程的真正见解。红外，紫外-可见，核磁共振和EPR光谱都将在结构测定中发挥关键作用。

The PhD in question has strong ties to sustainable and green chemistry, given that these types of catalytic processes offer an affordable way to utilize the CO2 produced when fossil fuels are burned, CO2 is a key greenhouse gas that directly contributes to climate change . A number of possible reduction targets have already been identified in CO, formic acid and methanol. CO is an important feedstock for the Fischer-Tropsch process, while both methanol and formic acid are key components in new fuel cells that could one day be used in the auto-motive industry. We will be studying the synthesis of novel and affordable catalysts based on Group 6 and 7 metal centres which bear a diverse range of ligands, these catalysts can also, in principle, be coupled to a photo-anode; allowing light-driven CO2 reduction to occur. Also studied will be the behaviour of these catalysts in ionic liquids which can be vastly different to their behaviour in normal solutions. Of equal interest is the surface/interface chemistry of the catalysts when bound by phosphate anchors to solid TiO2 and the co-operative effects of having a molecular catalyst and redox-active nanoparticles of copper in the same system. Of course, the PhD will have a strong foundation in molecular scale analytical techniques, particularly with regard to spectroelectrochemistry which can offer real insight into the processes that are occurring during the reduction of CO2. Infrared, UV-Vis, NMR and EPR spectroscopy will all play a critical role in structure determination.