Research Projects

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECO2R) is crucial for achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and achieving sustainable development goals SDGs 7 and 13. The challenge lies in finding economically cheap electrocatalysts with high catalytic activity, selectivity, and durability. The process occurs at a triple-phase interface, involving gaseous CO2, a solid electrode, and a liquid electrolyte. The use of gas diffusion electrodes (GDE) significantly enhances the throughput of ECO2R due to increased mass transport and increased active site density. The proposal aims to synthesize cost-effective 2D materials such as transition metal carbides (MXenes) and derived materials with high specific surface area, density of active sites, tunable functional groups, unsaturated dense metallic active sites, three-dimensional networks, and interconnected conductive networks for efficient and selective ECO2R to C2 products. The project will utilize 2D Mxene hybrid materials prepared by Indian partner IITJ to prepare GDEs. The project will also focus on designing and fabricating primitive 2D surface functionalized transition metal low-coordinated carbides (M2C), fabricating a 3D Mxene framework with V and Mo as direct metal sources, and evaluating the functional properties of the materials. The project will also study electrocatalytic CO2 reduction on M2C-TCPPCu 2 modified glass diffusion electrodes for C2 products, focusing on improved kinetics and low overpotentials.