While many view carbon dioxide (CO2) as a waste gas, there exist efforts in many laboratories to use CO2 as a building block and C1 synthon to produce more complex organic molecules. Most of these ongoing studies utilize rare and expensive late-transition metal complexes as catalysts. In this project funded by the Chemical Synthesis (SYN) section of NSF's Division of Chemistry, Professor Richard Kemp of the University of New Mexico and his students are examining the fundamental reactions of earth-abundant main group and transition metals to reduce CO2 to more valuable, small organic molecules via electrocatalysis. The long-term goal is to eventually use a renewable source of electrons (such as wind or solar derived) to re-energize CO2 back into transportation fuel precursors. If successful, the funded efforts will help lead to a closed carbon loop that allows recycle of CO2 back into transportation fuels for re-use.
While the primary work outputs of this grant will be the trained students and postdoctoral fellows and the published scientific results they generate, the broader impacts of this project extend into environmental chemistry, public policy debate, and the greenhouse gas reduction issue, with long-term implications in the transportation sector as fossil fuels continue to be depleted. UNM is a minority/Hispanic-serving university, and the PI's group has a long-standing history of educating students from under-represented groups, and aiding their entry into STEM careers. This tradition is expected to continue during this current funding period, and the interactions between UNM and overseas partners in third world countries will be further expanded.
