DMSE Fall Seminar Series: Andy Bocarsly

Description

Andy Bocarsly, a professor of chemistry at Princeton University, will give a talk titled "Multiphase Metal Oxide Electrocatalysts for the Reduction of CO2 to Products Beyond the C2 Limit" for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Abstract:

In recent years, a number of strategies have been put forward to both reduce the emission of CO2 and utilize waste CO2 as a new source of chemical feedstocks and fuels. To this end, electrochemical reduction of aqueous CO2 to organics appears attractive. However, this chemistry has been limited by a lack of efficient and selective electrocatalysts. This deficiency is a particular problem when compounds containing multiple carbons are desired. However, we recently reported that electrode interfaces composed of mixed chromium-gallium oxides provide a new pathway for the electrochemical generation of carbon-carbon bonds. The addition of nickel to these surfaces form electrocatalysts that produce high faradaic yields of 3-hydroxybutanal and 1-butanol with lower yields of other organics. A mechanistic understanding of this system is likely to offer new opportunities for the electrosynthesis of multicarbon species.