Title : CO2 as a useful waste to energy products
Abstract:
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered a useful greenhouse gas that can be captured and be used in the electro-syntheses of useful chemicals or fuels. Electrochemical CO2 reduction (eCO2R) is one of the most promising and effective technologies to reduce CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels, reducing the dependence on fossil fuels. However, the efficiency and selectivity of eCO2R is dependent on the interactions between the catalyst surface and the intermediates, which is majorly due to the inherent nature of the catalyst and other parameters like mass transport, electrolyte and intermediate coverage on the surface. A novel one step chemical process was employed for the synthesis of nanocomposite. The present research reported the sol-gel mediated synthesis of mixed metallic oxide composite, CaO/CeO2 using hydrothermal method as calcinating method. Morphology and crystal planes of the nanocomposite were characterized using high resolution scanning electron microscopy (HRSEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) respectively. In addition, the nanocatalyst showed good selectivity towards CO and HCOOH with enhanced current efficiencies of 45%-68%. In addition, the catalyst encourages new approach for a wide range of materials for smart electronic device and manufacturing processes especially in fuel cell (e.g., Direct alcohol fuel cells – DAFCs) applications. Electrochemically derived value-added chemicals represents the ultimate fuel in a future sustainable society and can be converted to useful electrical energy in DAFCs
