NASCENT · Nanoscale Advance of CO2 Electroreduction

The transformation of CO2 into fuels and chemicals is one promising route to revert global warming, enabling sustainable circular economies. CO2 electroreduction (CO2E) offers a pathway to generate globally used chemicals using renewable electricity. The performance of CO2E towards key chemicals such as ethylene, ethanol (C2) and higher energy-density molecules increasing number of carbon atoms (e.g. C3 and beyond) is today far from its technoeconomic viability. Product selectivity, energy efficiency, stability, and carbon utilization are, when combined at scale, insufficient.Further advances in CO2R performance are precluded by the yet limited understanding of reaction pathways, mass-transport and reactant competition; the scarce knowledge of the catalyst and its environment during reaction; and the lack of ability to control these, accurately, at the catalyst metal/liquid interface. NASCENT tackles these challenges exploring an innovative catalyst design materials platform to address the catalyst interface through the atomic-, nano-, and micro-scales. NASCENT exploits a family of metal and polymer precursors and engineers their assembly into metal/polymer interfaces with specific configurations tailored for CO2E. This is informed by a suite of complementary operando spectroscopies, designed and orchestrated to resolve the unanswered questions of CO2E interfaces at relevant operating conditions: Involving high current density, abrupt potentials, and a highly dynamic water/ion environment. This will enable the rational design of metal/polymer CO2E interfaces that achieve, and exploit, control over composition, reactants, ion, charges, and electric fields, across the needed spatial and temporal scales. NASCENT will help answer key fundamental questions in CO2E leading to transformative advances: Its ultimate goal is the viable, clean electrosynthesis of most important C2 chemicals and a path to generate so far elusive C3+ molecules efficiently.