(619h) Controlling the Electrochemical Kinetics of Hydrocarbon Synthesis from CO2 and the Electrocatalytic Transformation of Ethanol to Ethylene Oxide

Producing fuels and chemicals from CO₂ promises to close the anthropogenic carbon cycle. Impressive progress has been achieved in the electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to CO and formic acid. However, the synthesis of attractive hydrocarbon products such as ethylene and methane still requires high overpotentials and is plagued by low selectivity. Improving the catalytic performance for hydrocarbon synthesis from CO₂ therefore requires a fundamental understanding of the interfacial electrochemical processes which govern the generation of one product over another. In this talk, I will shed light onto the catalytic networks which govern the electrosynthesis of hydrocarbons and will show how this understanding allows us to rationally control hydrocarbon selectivity.

Building on the insight gained from electrocatalytic CO₂ transformation reactions, I will subsequently show how a fundamental understanding of processes at electrode surfaces can be exploited to transform substrates which exceed the complexity of small inorganic molecules such as CO₂. Specifically, I will present how our group is controlling the regioselectivity of electrochemical ethanol chlorination reactions to open a chloride catalyzed electrochemical pathway transforming ethanol to ethylene oxide.