skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Doherty, Brian"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract Electrochemical CO2reduction (CO2RR) on copper (Cu) shows promise for higher‐value products beyond CO. However, challenges such as the limited CO2solubility, high overpotentials, and the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in aqueous electrolytes hinder the practical realization. We propose a functionalized ionic liquid (IL) which generates ion‐CO2adducts and a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) upon CO2absorption to modulate CO2RR on Cu in a non‐aqueous electrolyte. As revealed by transient voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and in situ surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) complemented with image charge augmented quantum‐mechanical/molecular mechanics (IC‐QM/MM) computations, a unique microenvironment is constructed. In this microenvironment, the catalytic activity is primarily governed by the IL and HBD concentrations; former controlling the double layer thickness and the latter modulating the local proton availability. This translates to ample CO2availability, reduced overpotential, and suppressed HER where C4products are obtained. This study deepens the understanding of electrolyte effects in CO2RR and the role of IL ions towards electrocatalytic microenvironment design. 
    more » « less