NSF-DFG MISSION: Comprehensive Operando Analysis of Electrolyte-Solid Interface Dynamics for Enhanced Electrocatalytic CO2 Conversion

• Applicant: Dr. See Wee Chee
• Subject Area: Physical Chemistry of Solids and Surfaces, Material Characterisation ; Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials ; Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 542011561

Recent global events and the increasing frequency of natural disasters highlight the pressing need to shift our energy base from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. Converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into useful chemicals is not only a way to meet this need but also a method to recycle a damaging waste product created by our society. To create suitable electrocatalysts that can be used in real-world applications, we must thoroughly understand the structure of these materials under working conditions. However, the complexity of engineered nanomaterials pushes against the limits of our existing operando methods and so, we need to develop new tools that give us a detailed look at how the surface of these materials evolve during reaction. The CO2-EleDyn project focuses on exploring and understanding the complex changes that take place at the surface of electrocatalysts made of intermetallic nanomaterials (iNMs) during reaction and their relationship to catalyst performance. iNMs are nanomaterials consisting of two or more elements that are ordered in well-defined arrangements. We can tune the properties of an iNM catalyst by a careful design of these arrangements but to do so effectively, we must first understand how the catalyst re-organizes itself under working conditions. However, a comprehensive understanding of these complex materials requires a significant expansion of our capabilities to investigate the catalyst’s working structure and chemical state, and also on both small and large length scales. To achieve our objectives of understanding how iNM electrocatalysts re-structure and improve their properties for CO2 electro-reduction, we combine the expertise of the groups at the Fritz Haber Institute and Northwestern University to enable a broad investigative study that spans atomic scale characterization of the catalysts at different points of the reaction, correlated operando microscopy and spectroscopy that covers the nano- to meso-scale dynamics of the catalysts and bulk scale performance measurements in state-of-the-art electrolyzers. Through these studies, we aim to improve our understanding of how different combinations of iNMs and surface modifications impact the catalyst's performance. These insights will help us design better and more efficient catalysts for enhanced CO2 conversion. At the same time, our technical developments will lead to new capabilities to investigate functional materials during operation and in real time.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: USA
• Major Instrumentation: Gas Analyser
• Instrumentation Group: 1520 Meßgeräte für Gase (O2, CO2)
• Partner Organisation: National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Co-Investigator: Professorin Dr. Beatriz Roldan Cuenya
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Vinayak Dravid, Ph.D.; Professor Edward Sargent, Ph.D.