Research Projects

In the past several decades, concentration of CO2 in atmosphere is increasing rapidly contributing to energy shortage, water shortage, and global warming. As per the reports by the International Panel on Climate Change, the concentration of atmospheric CO2 may reach 590 ppm in 2100, leading to an average temperature increase of 1.9 °C [1]. To that end, conversion of CO2 to value-added chemicals can aid in utilizing alarmingly rising CO2 emissions [2]. Therefore, in this context, I propose to synthesize nanostructured MXene and cerium oxide (CeO2) supported over activated carbon fibre (ACF)-based electrode for applications in CO2 reduction. The electrode will consist of a Schottky heterojunction formed between MXene nanosheets and cerium oxide. The current proposed method will introduce green synthesis route for MXene synthesis with the aid of HCL and LiF precursors instead of commonly used highly toxic HF. CeO2 will be in-situ grown over pretreated ACF [3]. The prepared electrode will be used for photo-electrocatalytic reduction of CO2. The concentration of formed liquid and gaseous products will be measured using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) respectively. Additionally, the focus of proposed study also lies in maximizing CO2 conversion efficiency by optimizing various reaction parameters like pH, temperature, stirrer speed and requirement of an electrical bias. The use of photoelectrode will reduce the requirement of externally applied potential bias towards targeted reaction. The formation of Schottky heterojunction formed between MXene nanosheets and CeO2 will effectively generate photo-induced charge carriers under broader spectrum of solar light. The synthesized photoelectrode will also aid in improving reaction kinetics of targeted reaction. The proposed material will exhibit remarkable electrochemical and optical properties desirable for high CO2 conversion efficiency. The approach proposed in this project assumes significance from the perspective of developing cost-effective novel catalysts for the transformation of CO2 to valuable products. References [1] X. Liu, T. Chen, Y. Xue, J. Fan, S. Shen, M.S.A. Hossain, M.A. Amin, L. Pan, X. Xu, Y. Yamauchi, Nanoarchitectonics of MXene/semiconductor heterojunctions toward artificial photosynthesis via photocatalytic CO2 reduction, Coordination Chemistry Reviews, 459 (2022) 214440. [2] P. Gupta, M. Singh, M.T. Noori, J. Jack, Microbial photo electrosynthesis for efficient CO2 conversion using MXenes: Materials, mechanisms, and applications, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 12 (2024) 113063. [3] K. Pandey, P. Gupta, N. Verma, S. Singh, A CeO2 sprinkled graphitic novel packed bed anode-based single-chamber MFC for the treatment of high organic-loaded industrial effluent in upflow continuous mode, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 9 (2021) 23106-23116.