Rapid Characterization of CO₂ Reduction Products Using Copper Oxide Nanoparticle Catalysts

Presenter

David Russell Abgrab

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Zhu Chen, Department of Chemical Engineering, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 5, 3:30 PM - 4:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board C40, Poster Showcase Room (163), Row 4 (C31-C40) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Carbon dioxide accounts for over 79 percent of all human-made greenhouse gas emissions, hence developing an efficient way to remove CO2 from emissions is critical. Recent advances in carbon capture technologies have been promising, however, these technologies often rely on sequestration of CO2 after capture. Electrochemical CO2 reduction offers advantages through the ability to use renewable electrical energy. Additionally, the conversion of CO2 to commodity chemicals could prove an economic incentive for the implementation of CO2 capture and conversion technology; this will, in turn, demand more extensive research on designing new electrocatalysts. The current product detection and quantification requires a significant amount of time through flow cell electrolysis followed by liquid and gas chromatography data analysis. Herein, we present an electrochemical method using a rotating-ring disc electrode (RRDE) that can detect CO2 reduction products. This technique opens up the opportunity to screen catalysts in less time. We demonstrated such characterization using copper (Cu)-based catalysts prepared using different heat treatments. The RRDE technique is able to produce CO2 reduction products such as formate, carbon monoxide, ethylene, and alcohols on a Cu-nanoparticle-coated disk electrode and detect these products through oxidation on the platinum ring electrode. We also explored different catalyst treatment conditions and electrolyte effects and validated the results using electrolysis experiments performed using a flow cell under the same reaction conditions.

Keywords

Electrocatalysis, CO2 Conversion, Rapid Screening

Research Area

Chemistry and Materials Science

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