BICATC2 · Bioinspired bimetallic catalysts for CO2 reduction beyond C1 products

Bioinspired bimetallic catalysts for CO2 reduction beyond C1 products

The global economy has a strong dependence of chemicals for diverse uses including polymers, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. 90% of chemical feedstocks currently derive from gas and oil and as such, chemical industry is set to become the biggest driver of new oil demand by 2030. Therefore finding alternative chemical feedstocks is a key sustainability goal. Most projections for Net Zero include plans for Carbon Capture and Storage. However, in order to close the loop and build a circular economy, Carbon Capture and Utilization, in which the waste CO2 is chemically transformed and used as a source for chemical production. CO2 is a kinetically inert molecule containing two strong C=O bonds, making the task of activating and transforming this simple molecule highly challenging. Low cost, renewable electricity can be used in conjunction with suitable electrocatalysts to drive this reaction. The technology to produce C1 products such as formate, methanol and CO is quite advanced and widely achievable. To fully harness the potential of CO2 as a building block, it is necessary to move beyond C1 products to C2+ products, which have higher energy densities and a wider range of uses. C2+ products such as ethanol and propanol can be used as liquid fuels, which are crucial in hard to decarbonise areas such as aviation and shipping. The production of C2+ products directly from CO2 is a gap in the current technology, the realisation of which would greatly reduce emissions. Few systems can successfully produce C2+ coupled products and those which can suffer from selectivity issues The key aim of this project is develop bimetallic electrocatalysts for the multielectron reduction of CO2 to form C2+ products and to immobilise these species onto surfaces such as carbon nanotubes to improve catalyst stability and facilitate device integration.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union