CO2 Electroreduction

About

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through various human activities such as through transportation systems and manufacturing. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2013, CO2 accounted for about 82% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon is present in our atmosphere as CO2 and is also a primary factor affecting climate change. Unfortunately, these pollutants continue to damage the earth’s climate as we experience sea levels rising, global temperatures increasing, and ice sheets melting in artic regions of the world. Efforts to reduce and capture CO2 in the atmosphere are currently being developed. A primary method to capture and convert CO2 is electrochemical reduction. In order to create economically viable CO2 electroreduction systems, inexpensive unsupported metallic catalysts are needed. Researchers at the University of New Mexico have developed innovative techniques for developing catalysts and atomically dispersed chemical moieties for use in electroreduction and electrooxidation. This approach allows for one to tune the morphological, structural, and electronic properties to achieve high performance. Furthermore, materials used are lower cost and provide easier scale up manufacturability.