Cation effect on Sn and Bi electrodes during CO2 reduction reaction under well-defined mass transport conditions

• Grant number: 22/03750-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: September 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Physical-Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Raphael Nagao de Sousa
• Grantee: Maria Rodrigues Pinto
• Supervisor: Marc Koper
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 19/08244-2 - Synthesis of nanowires for application in the reduction reaction of carbon dioxide, BP.DR

Abstract

CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) is considered as one of the most appealing approaches to convert this greenhouse gas into feedstock and fuels. The formation of formic acid/formate has been highlighted as the most economically feasible product obtained from CO2. This is mainly due to the possibility of employing abundant and relatively inexpensive catalysts, such as Sn and Bi. The electrolyte composition has strong impact on CO2RR, but its effect has been only studied in model catalysts. In this research internship abroad, we propose to study how alkali cations affect the reactions rates of CO2RR and the competing hydrogen evolution in Sn and Bi under controlled mass transport conditions. A rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) will be employed to study the formation of CO2RR products generated at the disk and convectively transported and detected at the ring detector. In situ spectroscopic infrared experiments are proposed to study the surface speciation and the formation of intermediates during CO2RR. (AU)