Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CO2PhotoElcat (Biphasic Plasmonic Photoelectrocatalytic CO2 Reduction: electrochemically controlling plasmonic photo-charging of metallic nanofilms at immiscible liquid|liquid interfaces towards CO2 reduction)
Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2024-07-31
Conversion of CO2 to synthetic fuels is essential for climate-change mitigation and renewable energy production. The CO2PhotoElcat project develops a novel, disruptive and sustainable approach to the photoelectrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), harnessing the potential of electrified immiscible aqueous|organic interfaces to electrosynthesis plasmonically-active nanocomposite thin films. The interfacial thin films of metallic nanoparticles embedded in a conducting polymer generated during CO2PhotoElCat employing this innovative strategy have the potential to facilitate the photo-reduction of CO2 to C2+ hydrocarbons directly in an innovative biphasic system under electrochemical control, or in more conventional setups by their transfer to any solid electrode surface.
During the CO2PhotoElCat project, an entirely novel electrochemical methodology to prepare metallic NP/conducting polymer thin films at electrified liquid|liquid interfaces was developed. Specifically, nanocomposite films of AuNP/PEDOT, AgNP/PEDOT, and CuNP/PEDOT were electrosynthesised. Deeper mechanistic insights into the formation of AgNP/PEDOT thin films were investigated and their electrosynthesis optimized. The AgNP/PEDOT films developed during CO2PhotoElCat are being tested in situ at the aqueous|organic interface and also after their transfer on to solid electrode surfaces with regard their optimal visible-light plasmonically-activated photoelectrocatalytic CO2RR activity.
The key contribution of CO2PhotoElcat to the start-of-the-art is the demonstration that interfacial films containing photostable, visible-light plasmonically active and catalytic metallic NPs (for example towards the CO2 reduction reaction) can be electrosynthesized at polarizable (or electrified) liquid|liquid interfaces. The major advantage of this approach is that it provides an enhanced capability to externally control interfacial film formation (over a self-assembly approach) and enhances the robustness and transferability of the plasmonically active films to any solid substrate (such as an electrode) for use in photoelectrocatalysis.