Proceedings of MATSUS23 & Sustainable Technology Forum València (STECH23) (MATSUS23)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2023.300
Publication date: 22nd December 2022
CO2 reduction to long-chain compounds has the potential to close the carbon cycle and if using excess renewables be a route to sustainability. However, most of the materials we have only produce C2. I will analyze theoretically some of the aspects behind these difficulties in going higher in the C-C bond forming strategies. On one side I will describe why easy one material one orientation do not provide enough flexibility to generate large chains and why the role of the microenvironment and the materials complexity is so intrinsically crucial to the improvement of the electrocatalytic activity. At the same time I will demonstrate how mastering the microenvironment properties improvements can be introduced following different strategies. The work presented will illustrate how much complexity both at the electrocatalytic site but also in the solution and with different operational modes are needed and how the integration of different methodologies is crucial.