2025/05/19 by Rowan S. Brower, Brian A. Wuille Bille, Shawn Chiu +11 · 1 voice
Chemical Engineering · Energy · Materials Science · #Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices #CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts #Ionic liquids properties and applications
paper · pdf · doi:10.1002/aenm.202501286
openalex publication_date 2025/05/19 · openalex created_date 2025/05/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Abstract In this work, the electroreduction of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to oxalate is enabled by incorporating trace metallic lead (Pb) on carbon‐based supports (CBS) with polymer overlayers. These composite materials serve as an efficient electrocatalytic system for the facile conversion and storage of CO 2 , a pernicious atmospheric pollutant. Results from controlled potential electrolysis experiments indicate that 1) trace metallic Pb on the ppb scale is active toward the reductive coupling of CO 2 to oxalate at comparable Faradaic efficiencies to bulk metallic Pb and 2) polymer encapsulation of this trace metallic Pb leads to promotion of CO 2 reduction (CO 2 R) selectively to metal oxalates over other products such as CO. Importantly, metal oxalates are important alternative cementitious materials and precursors for other materials’ synthesis applications. The solid products undergo rigorous spectroscopic characterization, including 13 CO 2 labeling experiments, to ensure the metal oxalates are in fact produced from CO 2 R. These findings serve as a model for leveraging microenvironment effects to enhance activity and selectivity for CO 2 R using trace‐metal catalysts for carbon utilization and storage technologies.