Mechanistic Insights into electrochemical CO2 Reduction Reaction on Copper-based alloys and intermetallics

Notwithstanding the ongoing race to develop new efficient energy storage and conversion technologies and reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the global emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) due to anthropogenic activities is reaching critic levels, posing a serious threat to a sustainable development.

The major objective of this project is to open new avenues toward the capture and conversion of CO2 through the development of novel transition metal-based intermetallic compounds as catalysts for the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (eCO2RR).Identifying the active sites of a catalyst and the species involved in the CO2RR electrochemical process is a precondition for the rational design of top-performing catalysts exhibiting both high activity and high selectivity toward valuable products.

For this reason, this project aim to understand the dynamic evolution of the catalysts by detecting the intermediate states of the reaction process in real time using state-of-the-art synchrotron scattering techniques, such as operando X-ray powder diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, to ultimately disclose the mechanisms of reaction.Reaching this goal is the key toward the successful design of technologically relevant catalytic systems able to effectively subtract CO2 from the atmosphere and convert it to useful and economically relevant chemicals.