Christopher Barile: Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide emissions to fuels and other useful products
Title
Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide emissions to fuels and other useful products
Mentor
Department
Biosketch
Christopher Barile, Ph.D. is a Clemons-Magee Endowed Professor in Chemistry and a Professor at the ҹɫÊÓƵ. He attended Stanford University for his B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for his Ph.D. in chemistry before returning to Stanford for a post-doctoral study in materials science and engineering. He joined the ҹɫÊÓƵ as a professor in 2017, where he has taught and conducted research in the Department of Chemistry since. Barile’s research focuses on using chemistry to solve problems associated with energy conversion, storage, and efficiency. He is the author of more than 90 scientific publications, more than a dozen patents, and is the senior technical advisor to Tynt Technologies, a startup company commercializing energy-saving smart windows. In addition to Tynt, Barile has worked with a wide range of companies throughout his career because he believes in the importance of doing science that solves real-world problems. He also organizes the Energy Solutions Forum, a seminar series open to all students at the ҹɫÊÓƵ, that is held once a month during the semesters. In his free time, Barile enjoys hiking and backpacking with his family. In 2022, he and his wife wrote a regional hiking book entitled "Base Camp Reno: 101 Hikes from Sage to Snow."
Project overview
Because rising global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are the leading cause of climate change, we need ways of mitigating CO2 emissions. One promising idea is to capture CO2 from the air or from point sources such as fossil fuel power plants and then convert the CO2 into something useful. In this project, the Pack Research Experience Program (PREP) student will learn how to design and make new catalysts that convert CO2 gas into useful products. These products include alcohol fuels such as ethanol and methanol and chemical feedstocks such as ethylene and acetaldehyde. The fuels can be used in fuel cells for vehicles or added to gasoline (most U.S. gasoline contains 10% ethanol).
The PREP student will learn materials and inorganic chemistry techniques to build these new catalysts. Depending on the catalyst structure, the selectivity of the catalysts towards the different products can be tuned. Towards this end, the student will experiment with different metals and combinations of metals in the catalyst design. The student will also learn advanced analytical chemistry techniques such as gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy needed to detect and quantify the generated products. The project will provide an excellent introduction to a wide swath of experimental chemistry research.
Student Training Opportunities
- Fabrication techniques for catalysts
- Advanced electrochemical techniques include cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry
- Analytical chemistry techniques including spectroscopy and chromatography
- Analyzing and presenting data
- Designing new experiments and testing chemistry hypotheses
Required Qualifications
A background in general chemistry is all that is required (CHEM 121, 201, AP Chemistry, or equivalent). Electrochemistry concepts and all other advanced concepts will be taught directly by Chris Barile.
Maximum hours per week
The PREP student will be expected to work on the project for a maximum of 10 hours per week.
Pack Research Experience Program information and application