Operando Spectroelectrochemistry Approaches for Aqueous CO2 Reduction

In facing global energy and environmental concerns, developing alternative energy technologies to reduce carbon emission from fossil fuels is of central interest over the years. Herein I’ll briefly summarize some of our previous work on selective CO2 reduction with water into chemical fuels. Targeted for more energy- and cost-effective electrocatalyst design, complementary in situ spectroelectrochemical techniques, including surface enhanced infrared absorption (ATR-SEIRAS), Raman scattering, X-ray absorption and differential electrochemical mass spectroscopies (DEMS), have been developed to shed light on the electrode structure and interfacial species evolution during CO2 reduction. As a result, novel electrocatalytic materials with tunable electronic structure and coordination environment have been demonstrated, as well as their deployment in module energy systems as artificial leaf.