Atomic-scale design of electrocatalysts for renewable energy conversion and storage in energy-rich

快速脱碳我们的电力、交通和工业部门需要新的清洁燃料、绿色合成路线和可扩展的能源储存选择。随着可再生能源发电变得越来越便宜，通过二氧化碳和水的电催化大规模合成燃料和化学品尤其具有吸引力。由于铜的天然丰度和生成C2+产物（如乙烯、乙醇等）的能力，铜基催化剂已成为有趣的候选材料。然而，针对特定产物调整催化剂的选择性仍然是一个挑战，因此，通常只观察到H2， CO和其他C1产物。该项目的目的是了解如何在铜电极（金属铜及其氧化物）上进行二氧化碳还原反应（CO2RR）的产率和选择性，以适应单一产品。该方法将使用原子层沉积（ALD）改变电极表面组成，并了解ALD修饰的表面在催化反应中的功能。ALD是一种薄膜沉积技术，能够在平面衬底和高纵横比纳米结构中控制材料生长到单层甚至更薄。因此，活性位点可以以原子精度设计，并且可以在平面模型系统以及高表面积电极结构中研究它们的电催化性能。

Rapidly decarbonizing our electricity, transport and industrial sectors requires new clean fuels, green synthesis routes and scalable energy storage options. As electricity generation from renewables becomes cheaper, large-scale synthesis of fuels and chemicals via electrocatalysis of CO2 and water is particularly attractive. Copper based catalysts have emerged as interesting candidates due to copper's natural abundance and ability to yield C2+products such as ethylene, ethanol and others. However, tailoring the catalyst selectivity towards one specific product remains a challenge and thus, often only H2, CO and other C1 products are observed.The aim of this project is to understand how yield and selectivity in the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) on copper electrodes (metallic copper and its oxides) can be tailored towards a single product. The approach will be to alter the electrode surface composition using atomic layer deposition (ALD) and understand the function of the ALD-modified surface in the catalytic reaction. ALD is a thin film deposition technique able to control material growth down to a monolayer or even thinner on flat substrates as well as within high aspect ratio nanostructures. As such, active sites can be engineered with atomic precision and their electrocatalytic performance can be studied on flat model systems as well as in high surface area electrode architectures.