CO₂ Conversion

The issue of carbon neutral has been increasing more and more attentions for a green and sustainable environment. However, the inertness of CO₂ challenges the effecient conversion to other fuel gases and chemicals for recycling in our daily industries and lives. Through our efforts, we found the surface coating techniques will greatly increase the efficiency of trimolybdenum phosphides (Mo3P) toward electrochemical CO₂ reduction reactions (CO₂RR). The decorated imidazole-functionalized Mo₃P (ImF-Mo₃P) surface directionally convert CO₂ to propane (high energy-density fuel gas) with a high Faradic efficiency of 91.4%. However, the pristine Mo₃P appears to be a mediocre CO₂RR catalyst, producing significant CO and H₂ as major products. The ^*Im layer is effective to increase the electronic conductivity of solid-state catalyst, meanwhile it strengthens the ^*CO₂ and ^*CO adsorption on the catalysts by providing columbic force and hydrogen bonds to form ultimate propane products. Through designing such a hybrid catalyst with ionic liquids, we open new avenues to find more achievable catalysts for CO₂RR.

Keywords: CO₂RR; Ionic Liquid; Hybrid-phase Catalysts; Computational Electrochemistry

Publications:

1. Mohammadreza Esmaeilirad^#, Zhen Jiang^#, Ahmad M. Harzandi, Alireza Kondori, Mahmoud Tamadoni Saray, Carlo U. Segre, Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, Andrew M. Rappe, Mohammad Asadi Nat. Energy 8, 891-900 (2023) (^#: equal contribution)