Reduction carbon dioxide

Since noncatalyzed carbon dioxide reduction shows a large overpotential and potentials far more negative than -2.0 V versus SCE 

Much of the work on the photoreduction of carbon dioxide centres on the use of transition metal catalysts to produce formic acid and carbon monoxide. A large number of these catalysts are metalloporphyrins and phthalocyanines. These include cobalt porphyrins and iron porphyrins, in which the metal in the porphyrin is first of all photochemically reduced from M(ii) to M(o), the latter reacting rapidly with CO to produce formic acid and CO. ° Because the M(o) is oxidised in the process to M(ii) the process is catalytic with high percentage conversion rates. However, there is a problem with light energy conversion and the major issue of porphyrin stability. 

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However, there are several issues with widespread methanol usage. Methanol production from natural gas is relatively inefficient ( 67%), and this largely offsets the vehicular improvement in efficiency and carbon dioxide reduction (since gasoline can be made with "85% efficiency from oil). Additionally, the PEM fuel cell demands very pure methanol, which is difficult to deliver using existing oil pipelines and may require a new fuel distribution infrastructure. 

This research was supported by the Carbon Dioxide Reduction Sequestration Center, one of of the 21 Century Frontier R D Programs funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea. 

Electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has found no extensive application so far, yet it is of great interest for scientists in the fields of theoretical and applied electrochemistry. To a certain extent, it is analogous to the photochemical carbon dioxide reduction, but it involves no chlorophyll and yields simpler products. In recent years some books and reviews on this topic have been published (e.g., Taniguchi, 1989 Sullivan et al., 1993 Bagotsky and Osetrova, 1995). 

Of great interest and importance are studies on carbon dioxide reduction on copper electrodes, performed primarily by Japanese scientists. Under certain conditions, formation of methane and ethylene with high faradaic yields (up to 90%) was observed. The efficiency and selectivity of this reaction depends very much on the purity and the state of the surface of the copper electrode. For this reason, many of the published results are contradictory. 

The mechanism of carbon dioxide reduction in aqueous and nonaqueous solutions was investigated by several authors. It is now generally accepted that the reduction of carbon dioxide to formate ions is a multistep reaction with the intermediate formation of free radicals CO2 and HCO2 either in the solution or adsorbed on the electrode ... 

For synthetic fuels or energy-storage media to be produced electrochemically, it is necessary that the carbon dioxide reduction be conducted at potentials only slightly (not more than by 0.2 V) more negative than the corresponding equilibrium potential. To do this requires extensive research aiming at refining the catalysts and the conditions for this process. 

From a fundamental viewpoint, carbon dioxide reduction is a model reaction which can help us to understand better the mechanism of natural photosynthesis.11 Development of artificial photosynthetic systems, by mimicking functions of green plants, is one of... 

Mechanisms of carbon dioxide reduction in both aqueous and nonaqueous solutions have been studied mainly at metal electrodes. 

Semiconductor electrodes seem to be attractive and promising materials for carbon dioxide reduction to highly reduced products such as methanol and methane, in contrast to many metal electrodes at which formic acid or CO is the major reduction product. This potential utility of semiconductor materials is due to their band structure (especially the conduction band level, where multielectron transfer may be achieved)76 and chemical properties (e.g., C02 is well known to adsorb onto metal oxides and/ or noble metal-doped metal oxides to become more active states77-81). Recently, several reports dealing with C02 reduction at n-type semiconductors in the dark have appeared, as described below. 

In this article, recent developments, up to late 1986, on carbon dioxide reduction have been reviewed. These can be summarized as follows ... 

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