Nanostructured carbon dioxide reduction electrocatalyst design and electrochemical device integration

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Climate change is globally acknowledged as one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century. The Canadian Government has unequivocally committed to a low-carbon future through signing the 2016 Paris Climate Accord and implementing a federally mandated price on carbon emissions. However, policy changes are insufficient to accomplish the established goal of reducing carbon emissions by 30% over the next 12 years. Innovative new technologies are urgently needed to enable Canada's transition to a sustainable energy economy. The objective of this research program is to develop energy efficient and low-cost artificial photosynthesis prototypes that use renewable electricity (wind, solar, hydro) to electrochemically convert CO2 into valuable carbon-based chemicals. This technology will allow Canada's largest greenhouse gas emitters (i.e., the petrochemical industry) to reduce their emissions by directly converting them into valuable chemicals, including ethylene used to manufacture plastics, or ethanol for fuel. The timing of this research program is ideal as global markets begin the shift towards low-carbon products and processes. Furthermore, the cost of renewable electricity continues to drop to unprecedented levels, including wind and solar prices as low as $0.03 per kWh, and inexpensive hydro-power available in off-peak hours in certain parts of Canada. The key challenges hindering the development of artificial photosynthesis technologies are the lack of active and selective catalysts that can electrochemically convert CO2 molecules into fuels and chemicals, and the lack of device designs that can achieve practical efficiency and CO2 conversion rates. This research program directly addresses these challenges through the synthesis, characterization and performance evaluation of novel nanomaterial catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction. By establishing scientific design principles that guide catalyst activity and selectivity, improved catalyst nanomaterials will be designed and integrated into engineered artificial photosynthesis prototype devices for performance optimization and demonstration. This innovation in nanomaterial and device designs will generate cost-competitive technologies that will be commercialized by Canadian companies to capitalize on rapidly expanding clean energy markets, and to enable industry to decrease carbon emissions, reducing associated taxes and mitigating the devastating societal and environmental consequences of climate change. Furthermore, societal expectations are causing investors to consider sustainability when evaluating business decisions, and companies will be required to adopt clean energy technologies to meet these demands.