CO₂ Electroreduction

Overview

Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ (CO₂RR) offers a pathway to close the carbon cycle: captured CO₂ can be converted into carbon-neutral fuels and chemical feedstocks using renewable electricity. Our group works across the full stack — from the atomic-scale design of electrocatalyst materials to the engineering of electrode architectures and reactor configurations — to understand and improve the selectivity, efficiency, and stability of CO₂ electroreduction systems.

Research Directions

Electrocatalyst materials. We synthesize and characterize thin-film and nanostructured catalysts for CO₂ reduction, with particular interest in understanding how crystal facets, surface composition, and defect density govern product selectivity. We use a combination of electrochemical methods, in-situ spectroscopy, and electron microscopy to connect atomic structure to catalytic performance.

Electrode and interface engineering. The interface between catalyst, electrolyte, and CO₂ supply is a critical bottleneck in CO₂RR. We design gas-diffusion electrode architectures and study how local pH, CO₂ concentration, and ion transport influence reaction pathways and product distribution.

Coupled CO₂ capture and conversion. We integrate CO₂ capture directly with electrochemical conversion to avoid the energy lost in separate capture-and-release cycles. This is the basis of our eCatMem concept — a dual-functional membrane that performs CO₂ capture and electrocatalytic reduction within a single membrane-electrode assembly (Sadhujan et al. ChemSusChem 2025, 18 (17), e202500474).

Why It Matters

CO₂ electroreduction offers a route to store renewable electricity in carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals, and to close the carbon cycle by turning captured CO₂ back into useful feedstocks. Our work targets the selectivity, efficiency, and durability gaps that stand between laboratory demonstrations and practical electrolyzers.