Background
Breaking the C=O bond in CO2 and subsequent formation of C-H, O-H and C-C bonds, occurs through a complex set of reaction pathways and intermediates, yielding a diverse range of products. Catalysts made from elements such as silver, tin and copper are used to increase selectivity and drive reactions to the desired products. Challenges for catalysts operating at high current densities required for industrial scale CO2 conversion include selectivity, activity, stability and cost.
Aims
To develop a suite of efficient catalysts from sustainable elements for synthesising high-value products from CO2 electrolysis, via a holistic understanding of mechanisms and standardised testing under industrially relevant conditions.
Outcomes
Mechanistic and kinetic models will inform a set of reliable benchmarks to assess and enhance real-world electrocatalyst performance at the system level. This will underpin the discovery and patenting of new electrocatalyst formulations and ionic liquids for CO2 conversion to high-value products.
RT2A: A standardised, high-throughput electrocatalyst discovery platform
Project Lead – Dr Fenwang Li
A key practical issue for electrochemical CO2 conversion catalysts is the diversity of synthesis methods, test conditions and reporting metrics used to evaluate performance and benchmark between laboratories. An Accelerated Catalyst Discovery Platform will be established at USyd to address this issue featuring a bank of identical electrochemical reactors and multichannel electrochemical workstations, supported by high-speed liquid and gas chromatographic analyses for parallel testing of tens of catalyst candidates under identical experimental conditions. Data outputs will provide training sets for machine learning methods to identify key catalyst descriptors.
RT2B: Mechanistic insight and quantitative structure-reactivity relationship
Project Lead – Professor Chuan Zhao
New synthetic methods will be developed and optimised to create highly active, selective and durable electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to hydrocarbon fuels, and valuable N-containing organic molecules.
RT2C: Engineering catalyst surfaces to improve selectivity and stability
Project Lead – Professor Yuan Chen
The surface chemical environment of electrocatalysts will be tuned through the introduction of adsorbed molecular modifiers and/or use of ionic liquid electrolytes to regulate CO2 activation and conversion at the gas/liquid/solid three-phase interface.