Excellence in Research: CAS: Rationally Designed Porous Metal Nanoarchitectures for Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

With the support of the Chemical Catalysis program in the Division of Chemistry, Dr. Bishnu Prasad Bastakoti of North Carolina A&T State University is studying materials based solutions to address the current problems resulting from increasing CO2 levels. The project provides a framework for the development of new catalysts for CO2 recycling and energy storage.

Converting CO2 into desired chemical products provides an alternative source of carbon for fuels and useful chemicals. The educational plan of the proposed project introduces participants to the importance of materials design in addressing current and future energy-related challenges. North Carolina A&T State University is an officially recognized minority institution, an HBCU, and a land-grant institution.

Training students in chemistry and materials science by involving them in current research will help them to develop the techniques necessary for industrial positions or in higher-level education. Dr. Bastakoti will work with K-12 teachers to develop lesson plans that integrate research with classroom studies, and will impact many high school students.

The research and integrated education components of this proposal will address several challenges in carbon dioxide conversion and utilization as well as important issues at the scientific and societal levels.

Bishnu Prasad Bastakoti of North Carolina A&T State University is studying the use of porous metal/alloy systems to address mechanistic questions necessary to understand the reduction of aqueous CO2 to desirable products. Amphiphilic block copolymers prepared in the Bastakoti laboratory are being used as a template and structure directing agent to synthesize self-supported nanoporous frameworks of Cu and its alloys.

The co-operative self-assembly of block copolymers and soluble inorganic precursors followed by chemical reduction will give highly porous metal frameworks. The interconnected nanopores provides a Cu catalyst with a large number of atomic steps, kinks, and Cu(100) facets that facilitate the formation of C2 products in the electrochemical reduction of CO2.

The addition of other metal(s) into the Cu provides multimetallic interfaces that promote the stability of key intermediates through synergistic interactions between the two metals and facilitate CO2 reduction. The catalytic sites bind the key intermediates tightly enough to set a sufficient coverage for C-C coupling but not so tightly as to increase the corresponding activation barrier.

The compressive strains due to secondary metal into Cu framework favors the binding toward reactive species and offers an attractive method for the development of new nanostructured multimetallic catalysts to improve activity while simultaneously steering selectivity toward more desirable products.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.