Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Clark, Ezra L..
The present invention provides for a differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) cell comprising a working electrode chamber configured such that an electrolyte enters the working electrode chamber through a channel running through the working electrode.
Conversion of CO 2 to reduced products is a promising route to alleviate irreversible climate change. In this paper we report the synthesis of a Co-based phthalocyanine with pyridine moieties (CoPc-Pyr), which is supported on a carbon electrode and shows Faradaic efficiency ~90% for CO at 490 mV of overpotential (-0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE)). In addition, its catalytic activity at -0.7 V versus RHE surpasses other Co-based molecular and metal-organic framework catalysts for CO 2 reduction at this bias. Density functional theory calculations show that pyridine moieties enhance CO 2 adsorption and electron affinity of the Co center by an inductive effect, thus lowering the overpotential necessary for CO 2 conversion. Our study shows that CoPc-Pyr reduces CO 2 at lower overpotential and with higher activity than noble metal electrodes, such as silver.