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Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst
Dissertation (MSc (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2019.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2024
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| _version_ | 1867613655486431232 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Radhakrishnan, Shankara Gayathri |
| author_browse | Radhakrishnan, Shankara Gayathri |
| author_facet | Radhakrishnan, Shankara Gayathri |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Dissertation (MSc (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2019. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/98034 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:35.842Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/98034 Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst Radhakrishnan, Shankara Gayathri u13181867@tuks.co.za Ndlangamandla, Simphiwe UCTD Formic acid Electrochemical reduction Chemistry Copper Dissertation (MSc (Chemistry))--University of Pretoria, 2019. Copper is one of the most useful electrocatalysts for electrochemically converting CO2 to hydrocarbons and alcohols. Unfortunately, copper suffers from a lack of selectivity and efficiency. Earth-abundant electrocatalysts such as metal porphyrins have been shown to be highly stable and highly selective for products such as carbon monoxide and formic acid. Formic acid is formed with high efficiency on a wide range of materials and can be further reduced to other useful products such as hydrocarbons and alcohols. The aim of this project is to conduct electrochemical formic acid reduction to hydrocarbons or alcohols using copper (II) tetraphenyl porphyrin. Electrochemical Formic acid reduction was conducted using a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) cell electrolyser. Water electrolysis was conducted at the anode using a 70:30 IrO2: TaC electrocatalyst. A control experiment was first conducted with a freebase tetraphenyl porphyrin cathode. Thereafter all experiments were repeated with Cu (II) tetraphenyl porphyrin. Products were characterized using liquid injection gas chromatography. Formic acid reduction with freebase tetraphenyl porphyrin did not yield any products at both -1.8 V and -2.1 V. Copper (II) tetraphenyl porphyrin yielded isopropanol and the most conductive copper (II) tetraphenyl porphyrin electrode produced isopropanol with a faradic efficiency of 4.5 % at -2.1 V with current density of -1.71 mA/cm2. The least conductive Cu (II) tetraphenyl porphyrin electrode exhibited a current density of -0.055 mA/cm2 at -2.1 V but produced isopropanol with a faradaic efficiency of 30.4 %. This shows that a high current density does not necessarily equate to an enhanced faradaic efficiency of formic acid reduction to isopropanol. No isopropanol was detected from formic acid reduction using freebase tetraphenyl porphyrin. This indicates that the mechanism of formic acid reduction to isopropanol requires the presence of the copper central metal as the active site. Chemistry MSc (Chemistry) Unrestricted Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences 2024-09-05T07:47:14Z 2024-09-05T07:47:14Z 2020-04 2019-11 Dissertation * A2020 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/98034 en © 2021 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Formic acid Electrochemical reduction Chemistry Copper Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| title | Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| title_full | Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| title_fullStr | Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| title_full_unstemmed | Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| title_short | Electrochemical reduction of Formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| title_sort | electrochemical reduction of formic acid using an earth abundant catalyst |
| topic | UCTD Formic acid Electrochemical reduction Chemistry Copper |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/98034 |