This thesis delivers an in-depth investigation into electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (CO2R), a process with the potential to convert CO2 gas into value-added chemicals and fuels. However, the efficiency and operational durability of current CO2 reduction processes are limited by catalytic performance. To address this, the thesis focuses on gaining a deep understanding of the transformations that CO2R electrocatalysts undergo under realistic conditions, such as morphological, phase structure, and compositional changes. These insights inform the design of next-generation materials by identifying performance descriptors and degradation patterns. A key aspect of this thesis is the development and application of in-situ liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (LP-TEM), an advanced platform that directly correlates nanoscale changes in catalyst materials under the influence of electrode potentials in CO2R reactive environments. Despite its potential, the use of in-situ LP-TEM presents a range of challenges, which this thesis addresses alongside exploring potential advancements for enhancing its accuracy and applicability. With the evolution of nanofabricated liquid cells, dynamic nanoparticle tracking, and high-resolution imaging in a liquid medium, this technology can more accurately mimic realistic exposure conditions. Cumulatively, this thesis systematically navigates the technical hurdles, advancements, and future prospects of in-situ LP-TEM in the context of electrochemical CO2R. The findings not only advance our understanding of the in-situ LP-TEM technical process but also guide new researchers in the field of in-situ TEM of electrocatalyst materials, aiding in the optimization of catalyst design, and paving the way for more sustainable and economically competitive CO2R technologies. The application of in-situ LP-TEM extends to the examination of two specific catalysts: Palladium (Pd) and a bi-metallic alloy of Copper (Cu) and Silver (Ag). By employing in-situ LP-TEM and selected area diffraction (SAD) measurements, we trace the morphological and phase structure transformations of the Pd catalyst under CO2R conditions. Interestingly, our findings indicate that alterations in reaction energetics, rather than morphological or phase structure changes, chiefly govern catalyst selectivity. This provides invaluable insights for designing more efficient catalysts. Further, we observe the morphological transformation of a metallic copper catalyst structure into a Cu-Ag bimetallic alloy during a galvanic replacement method. We then investigate the stability of both catalyst structures under operational CO2R conditions. Our results reveal that the metallic Cu structure undergoes significant morphological deformation during CO2R, leading to migration, detachment, and recrystallization of the catalyst surface. Contrarily, the Cu-Ag bimetallic alloy demonstrates notable thermodynamic stability under a similar applied potential. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy / This PhD thesis focuses on the development and implementation of cutting-edge technologies to address the climate change implications of CO2 emissions - a potent greenhouse gas. CO2 molecules could be electrochemically converted into various chemical feedstock and fuels. This process involves the development of efficient catalyst designs that can reduce CO2 gas at high conversion rates. Acquiring mechanistic insights on the behavior of the developed catalysts under reaction conditions would significantly assist on producing performance descriptors for catalyst design in CO2 conversion approach. Among a range of different advanced techniques, in-situ liquid phase transmission electron microscopy (LP-TEM) technology is selected for this study. This technique is capable of correlating dynamic nanoscale compositional and morphological changes with the electrochemical response of the catalysts. The primary focus of the thesis is on developing and implementing in-situ LP-TEM techniques to achieve electrochemical CO2 conditions while tracking particle morphology and phase structures as functions of electrochemical potential and time. Furthermore, the thesis investigates the performance of different catalyst designs under CO2 reduction (CO2R) operational conditions, which includes palladium (Pd) nanoparticles and copper–silver (Cu–Ag) bimetallic alloys. On a fundamental level, these studies provide a detailed understanding of the phase transformation and structural changes of these catalysts during CO2R that contributes valuable knowledge to the field and can be used to design next-generation CO2R catalysts.

Thesis advisor: Dunwei Wang / Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CRR) provides a solution to both the increasing global demand of energy by forming valuable chemical products for fuel production, and global warming by reducing the amount of CO2 in the environment. To efficiently reduce CO2, we sought to understand the reaction mechanism using a polycrystalline Au electrode and the super concentrated LiTFSI solution (WiS) as the electrolyte. By varying both the electrolytic potential and the concentration of WiS, we investigated the factors determining product selectivity and found that reaction kinetics and mass transport together direct the selectivity towards CO. We probed the rate limiting step (RLS) of CO2 reduction by observing the variation of product distribution with water availability in solution, and discovered that the RLS was likely to involve only a single electron transfer to form COO*–. Lastly, we proposed that in WiS, H2O were the dominant proton sources for both CO2 reduction and H2 evolution reactions. In 21m WiS, the competing hydrogen evolution reaction was kinetically inhibited, so CO production was favored with a selectivity of 90% at a potential as early as -0.4V vs RHE. This study demonstrated the great potential of WiS as a platform for studying multi-proton, multi-electron transfer reactions. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2018. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Scholar of the College. / Discipline: Chemistry.

IPCC SR15 rapporterade att alla framtida scenarier för att begränsa klimatförändringen till 1,5°C är starkt beroende av negativa utsläppstekniker, såsom geografisk CO2-lagring som används av Stockholm Exergi’s Värtaverket. Men kan man uppnå starkare klimatvinster genom en cirkulär koldioxidekonomi? Bildandet av en cirkulär koldioxidekonomi är absolut nödvändigt för att uppnå global koldioxidneutralitet, men hur kommer vi dit? Elektrolys av CO2 erbjuder en ekonomiskt och miljömässigt attraktiv väg för att uppgradera CO2-utsläpp till värdefulla bränslen och råvaror, vilket minskar användningen av fossila resurser och CO2-utsläpp till atmosfären. Detta examensarbete undersöker möjligheten att ta bort 720 000 ton-CO2-utsläpp från det avfallseldade kraftvärmeverket i Högdalen som fallstudie, via elektrokemisk reduktion av CO2 till eten, med målet att producera polymera konstruktionsmaterial, för att fungera som en kolsänka. Dessa polymerer har utvärderats utifrån kriterier som kapacitet som kolsänka, marknadsstorlek och LCA. Eten är den mest användbara råvarukemikalien för polymerproduktion och har ett betydande koldioxidavtryck på 1,73 ton CO2 per producerade eten. Att använda eCO2RR skulle minska betydande CO2-utsläpp och överbrygga luckan mellan fossila och förnybara resurser. Detta examensarbete föreslår en preliminär processdesign, komplett med en teknoekonomisk modell för att beräkna ekonomin, mass- och energibalanser för ett flertal scenarier. Över hundra elektrokatalysatorer har studerats i en litteraturgenomgång, där 5 st elektrokatalysator har valts ut baserat på olika styrkor i särskilda meritvärden, för att fastställa prestationsmål för lönsamhet. Den teknoekonomiska modellen drog slutsatsen att vid nuvarande prisläge på 700 SEK/MWh kunde ingen av elektrokatalysatorerna uppnå lönsamhet. Att sänka elpriset till LCOE för vindkraft till 335 SEK/MWh, blev resultaten mycket lönsamma, inklusive IRR upp till 41,3%. Modellparametrar ändrades för att fastställa de viktigaste variablerna i en omfattande känslighetsanalys. Vi kan dra slutsatsen att strömtätheter på 400-600 mA/cm2 är gynnsamma och med så låg bibehållen cellspänning som möjligt (<2,4V). Om man specifikt inriktar sig på eten som produkt kan det vara fördelaktigt att ytterligare öka lönsamheten genom att producera myr- eller ättiksyra som ett nästa steg, vilket har fördelen av enklare vätskegasseparering och för att undvika produktion av metan och etanol. För lönsamhet krävs en livstid på minst 2-4 år för elektrokatalysatorn (CCM), 10 år för stacken och 20 år för elektrolyssystemet. I miljöanalysen studerades massbalans-lagringen av CO2. Detta uppnåddes genom att ta bort de direkta utsläppen från Högdalenverket. De indirekta utsläppen förhindrades genom att ersätta konventionella processer av elkällans kolintensitet. Baserat på genomsnittet av elektrokatalysatorerna skulle värdlandet behöva kräva en kolintensitet för elproduktionen under 101 och 153 tCO₂/GWh för NET-direkt respektive indirekt CO2-avlägsnande. Följaktligen kan högre CO2-besparingar uppnås genom handel med koldioxidsnål svensk el till grannländer med mycket högre koldioxidintensitet. Totalt sett var den direkta koldioxidminskningen mellan 487 300 till 575 000 ton CO₂ och en indirekt minskning på mellan 1 065 000 till 1 219 000 ton CO₂, beroende på energieffektivitet och produkter. Den största utmaningen för kommersiell framgång för alla eCO2RR-projekt bortsett från de tekniska prestandaaspekterna är att nödvändiga förändringar i skatteregelverket behövs, så att el från elektrolysprojekt till gröna kemikalier blir skattebefriade, som jämförbart med förbränning av förnybar biomassa är befriad från CO2-skatter. / The IPCC SR15 reported that all future scenarios to limit climate change to 1.5°C are heavily reliant on negative emission technologies, such as geographical CO2 storage employed by Stockholm Exergi’s Värtaverket. But can stronger climate benefits be achieved through a circular carbon economy? The formation of a carbon circular economy is imperative towards achieving global carbon neutrality, but how do we get there? Electrolysis of CO2 offers an economically and environmentally attractive route to upgrade CO2 emissions to valuable fuels and feedstocks, thus reducing the use of fossil resources and CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, hence closing the cycle.  This thesis explores the possibility of removing the 720,000 tCO2 emissions of the case study waste-fired CHP plant, Stockholm Exergi’s Högdalenverket, via the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (eCO2RR) towards ethylene, with the goal of producing polymeric construction materials, to act as a carbon sink. These polymers were evaluated on criteria such as, capacity as a carbon sink, market size and LCA. Ethylene is the prevailing commodity chemical for polymer production and has a significant carbon footprint of 1.73 tonCO2 per tonne of ethylene produced. Displacement via the eCO2RR would prevent substantial CO2 emissions and bridge the gap between fossil and renewable resources.  This thesis describes a preliminary process design, complete with technoeconomic model to calculate the economics, mass and energy balances of numerous scenarios. Electrocatalyst data from an in-depth literature review comprising of over 100 catalysts was drawn, with 5 electrocatalyst candidates selected based on strengths in particular figures of merit, to determine performance targets for profitability. The technoeconomic model concluded that at the current price point of 700 SEK/MWh, none of the electrocatalysts could achieve profitability. Lowering the electricity price to the levelized-cost of electricity (LCOE) for wind, 335 SEK/MWh, yielded highly profitable results, including IRR up-to 41.3%. Model parameters were changed to determine the most important variables in an extensive sensitivity analysis. Concluding that performance targets require current densities of 400-600 mA/cm2 whilst maintaining as low cell voltage as possible (<2.4 V). When specifically targeting ethylene, it is beneficial to increase profitability through targeting more valuable, formic, or acetic acid, which has the advantage of easier liquid-gas separation and to avoid production of methane and ethanol. For stability, 2-4 years minimum is required for the catalyst-coated membrane (CCM), 10 years for the stack and 20 years for the electrolyser systems.    In the environmental analysis, capabilities for carbon storage were studied via CO2 balance. This was achieved by taking the direct emissions removed from Högdalenverket, the indirect emissions prevented by replacing conventional processes and by the carbon intensity of the electricity source. Based on the average energy efficiency and performance of the electrocatalysts, the host country would require a carbon intensity of electricity production below 101 and 153 tCO₂/GWh for NET direct and indirect CO2 removal, respectively. Consequently, higher CO2 savings were achieved by trading low-carbon Swedish electricity to neighbouring countries with much higher carbon intensities. Overall, the direct carbon reduction was between 487,300 to 575,000 tCO₂ and indirect reduction of between 1,065,000 to 1,219,000 tCO₂, subject to energy efficiency and targeted products.  It remains that aside from the technical performance aspects of the eCO2RR catalysts, the major roadblock towards the commercial success of all eCO2RR projects is the required adjustments to regulatory framework, such that electricity for electrolysis projects towards green chemicals exempt from taxes in a similar way to renewable biomass combustion exempt from CO2 taxes.