Research Projects

Since the mid-20th century, industrialization and population growth have led to increased global energy demand, primarily utilizing fossil fuels. This has led to increased anthropogenic emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, causing global environmental problems. India is also experiencing the effects of global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions. The electrochemical reduction of CO2 (ERC) process is a promising method to use CO2 as a raw material for value-added products using renewable energy. However, challenges include slow reaction kinetics, poor selectivity, and fast electrocatalyst deactivation. A proposed solution involves preparing an amine functionalized electrode for carbon-supported Ag/Zn/Cu cathode ERC to syngas and using elevated pressure in direct gas phase ERC to achieve high current density. Tuning the electrode with amine functional groups can improve adsorption. Initial studies will focus on cathode synthesis protocol, liquid phase ERC, electrode stability analysis, and long-term ERC performance analysis. Elevated pressure studies will be conducted to achieve high current density and study the effect of membrane nature. These studies aim to improve ERC performance by improving adsorption of CO₂ at the electrode surface and reducing CO₂ simultaneously.