(Invited) Steering Electrocatalytic CO₂ Reduction Reactivity Using Microenvironments

A key challenge in electrocatalysis is co-designing the catalyst and its microenvironment to work in concert to efficiently steer complex reaction networks. First, I will describe the development of a tandem catalysis strategy on Au/Cu electrocatalysts to control the potential energy landscape of the CO2 and CO reduction at length scales beyond the active site and achieve synergistic catalytic activity for alcohols superior to that of either Cu or Au. Next, I will provide examples of CO2 reduction on catalysts supported on gas diffusion electrodes to discuss how the intrinsic catalysis and mass transport are interconnected through microenvironments, leading to emergent catalytic properties under industrially relevant reaction rates. Finally, I will conclude by providing our perspective on key remaining challenges to the scale-up of CO2 electrolyzers within the context of electrifying the chemicals manufacturing sector.