Researchers at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology have developed a method to generate 1-butanol directly from CO2 using copper phosphide electrodes. This alternative fuel source is called "alternative fuel source" Credit: Gwangju Institute of Science and TechnologyThe Earth's climate has been affected by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and coal. Scientists are now looking for ways to transform CO 2 into valuable organic products such as 1-butanol which has been promising as an alternative fuel for cars. This could reduce our dependence upon fossil fuels.The electrochemical reduction reaction (CO2 RR) is one method to obtain useful compounds. This task can be accomplished by using metal-based catalysts. There is one problem: Most of these catalysts can produce many products during reaction which can make it difficult to separate.A team of researchers, led by Prof. Jaeyoung, Lee, and consisting of Mr. Minjun Choi and Dr. Jin Won Kim from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea, came up with a method that generates 1-butanol directly using copper phosphide (CuP 2) without having to undergo CO dimerization. Minjun Choi is a university student and first author. Their research was recently published in the journal ACS Energy Letters.Use of copper-rich copper cathodes to convert CO 2 into Butanol Credit to Jaeyoung Lee, Gwangju Institute of Science and TechnologyAlthough there are many copper-based electrocatalysts, this is the first time CuP 2 has been used in order to create an electrocatalyst which is highly product-selective. It causes a C-C coupling reaction, and avoids the formation CO which is a critical intermediate in Cu-based systems. This was confirmed by the researchers using surface-enhanced, infrared absorption spectrumcopy. The CuP2 electrocatalyst produced 1-butanol with a remarkable Faradaic efficiency of >3%.Their findings are exciting to the team. Prof. Lee concludes, "Our goal was to design new electrodes that can be stacked, that can increase production rate, and that can promote efficiency so we can convert and use CO 2 as fuel in reality."Continue reading Tuning reaction barriers to carbon dioxide electroreduction into multicarbon productsFurther information: Minjun Choi et., Formation of 1-Butanol without *CO Dimerization on a Phosphorus–Rich Copper Cathode. ACS Energy Letters (2021). Minjun Choi and colleagues, Formation of 1-Butanol without *CO Dimerization in a Phosphorus Rich Copper Cathode (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.1c00723GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology),
