Chungseok Choi, Soonho Kwon, Yuanzuo Gao, Seonjeong Cheon, Jing Li, Fabian Menges, William A Goddard, Hailiang Wang
Electrochemical reactions and their catalysis are important for energy and environmental applications, such as carbon neutralization and water purification. However, the synergy in electrocatalysis between CO2 utilization and wastewater treatment has not been explored. In this study, we find that the electrochemical reduction of chlorinated organic compounds such as 1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, and tetrachloroethylene into ethylene in aqueous media, which is a category of challenging reactions due to the competition of H2 evolution, can be substantially enhanced by simultaneously carrying out the reduction of CO2 on an easily prepared and cost-effective Cu metal catalyst...
March 14, 2024: Journal of the American Chemical Society