Gold-Based Nanomaterials for Catalytic CO2 Conversion Applications

Managing carbon emissions is one of the most pressing issues currently faced by the energy sector.  In addition to technical challenges associated with the capture and storage of CO₂, are cost issues that make implementation of these technologies impractical.  One interesting approach for dealing with these issues is to catalytically convert CO₂ into liquid fuels, olefins, aromatics, and industrial chemicals that can be sold to offset carbon management costs.  This approach requires the development of novel catalysts capable of utilizing carbon-friendly forms of energy to activate CO₂ and drive a chemical reaction.  My talk will focus on two Au-based catalyst currently being developed for CO₂ applications.  The first system is based on atomically precise Au₂₅^q clusters (q = -1, 0, +1) where we have manipulated the electronic structure and ground-state charge of the cluster to tailor its interaction with CO₂, H⁺, OH^-, O₂ and other key species in order to improve electrocatalytic activity and direct chemical reaction pathways.  The second system is based on Au-ZnO heterostructures where visible-light plasmonic excitations in Au nanoparticles are used to generate heat and drive chemical reactions on the ZnO substrate.  These two systems demonstrate how the size of Au nanoparticles can be altered to create dramatically different electronic structures (bound vs. free electrons), modulate catalytic activity, and impact how we finally utilize these materials for different catalysis applications.Managing carbon emissions is one of the most pressing issues currently faced by the energy sector.  In addition to technical challenges associated with the capture and storage of CO₂, are cost issues that make implementation of these technologies impractical.  One interesting approach for dealing with these issues is to catalytically convert CO₂ into liquid fuels, olefins, aromatics, and industrial chemicals that can be sold to offset carbon management costs.  This approach requires the development of novel catalysts capable of utilizing carbon-friendly forms of energy to activate CO₂ and drive a chemical reaction.  My talk will focus on two Au-based catalyst currently being developed for CO₂ applications.  The first system is based on atomically precise Au₂₅^q clusters (q = -1, 0, +1) where we have manipulated the electronic structure and ground-state charge of the cluster to tailor its interaction with CO₂, H⁺, OH^-, O₂ and other key species in order to improve electrocatalytic activity and direct chemical reaction pathways.  The second system is based on Au-ZnO heterostructures where visible-light plasmonic excitations in Au nanoparticles are used to generate heat and drive chemical reactions on the ZnO substrate.  These two systems demonstrate how the size of Au nanoparticles can be altered to create dramatically different electronic structures (bound vs. free electrons), modulate catalytic activity, and impact how we finally utilize these materials for different catalysis applications.