Principal Investigator Yogesh Surendranath
Heterogeneous catalysts often consist of multiple phases, which, in combination, exhibit superior performance relative to each constituent in isolation. However, current methods for synthesizing multi-phase catalysts often give rise to a broad distribution in local composition and, therefore, obscure the underlying relationship of structure and function. We are developing general electrosynthetic methods for the tunable preparation of well-defined multi-component thin film and nanocrystalline catalysts with the goal of extracting broad periodic trends and fundamental mechanistic insights into the unique reactivity of phase boundaries. We are currently focused on developing multi-component catalysts for the selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide to liquid fuels.