Maggie Liu
MIT ChemE | Raj. V. Tahil (1981) Research and Innovation Scholar
Optimizing Copper Nanoparticle Faceting for Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction
Chemical Engineering
- Chemistry
Ariel L. Furst
50 gigaton of CO2 are expected to be released into the air in the next few decades. To alleviate the harmful environmental impact of CO2, we can recycle CO2 into valuable chemical products through electrocatalysis using copper nanoparticles. By controlling the exposed facets in the nanoparticle, we can control the desired product. The goal of the project is to optimize the efficiency of the process by attaining size control of the particles, improve the product selectivity and faradaic efficiency of the electrocatalyst reactions, and achieve a scale-up of the synthesis while ensuring consistent catalyst quality.
I want to use the opportunity given by this SuperUROP to expand my project by using the skills I have learned as a chemE and past research experiences. I want to learn more about electrocatalysis as well as new characterization and analytical techniques. I hope that I can produce valuable results and be able to present my work to a larger audience beyond my lab.