{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/26356"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/26356","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Microfluidic platform for studying the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide","abstract":"Diminishing supplies of conventional energy sources and growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions present significant challenges to supplying the world’s rapidly increasing demand for energy. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has the potential to address many of these issues by providing a means of storing electricity in chemical form. Storing electrical energy as chemicals is beneficial for leveling the output of clean, but intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Electrical energy stored as chemicals can also be used as carbon neutral fuels for portable applications allowing petroleum derived fuels in the transportation sector to be replaced by more environmentally friendly energy sources. However, to be a viable technology, the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide needs to have both high current densities and energetic efficiencies (Chapter 1). Although many researchers have studied the electrochemical reduction of CO2 including parameters such as catalysts, electrolytes and temperature, further investigation is needed to improve the understanding of this process and optimize the performance (Chapter 2). This dissertation reports the development and validation of a microfluidic reactor for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (Chapter 3). The design uses a flowing liquid electrolyte instead of the typical polymer electrolyte membrane. In addition to other benefits, this flowing electrolyte gives the reactor great flexibility, allowing independent analysis of each electrode and the testing of a wide variety of conditions. In this work, the microfluidic reactor has been used in the following areas: • Comparison of different metal catalysts for the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 4). • Investigation of the effects of the electrolyte pH on the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 5). • Study of amine based electrolytes for lowering the overpotentials for CO2 reduction and suppressing undesirable hydrogen evolution (Chapter 6). • Investigation of the effects of reaction temperature on the Faradaic efficiency and current density for CO2 reduction on several catalysts (Chapter 7). These studies demonstrate the utility of this flexible reactor design and provide increased understanding of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 and the critical parameters for optimization of this process.","abstract_html":"Diminishing supplies of conventional energy sources and growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions present significant challenges to supplying the world’s rapidly increasing demand for energy. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has the potential to address many of these issues by providing a means of storing electricity in chemical form. Storing electrical energy as chemicals is beneficial for leveling the output of clean, but intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Electrical energy stored as chemicals can also be used as carbon neutral fuels for portable applications allowing petroleum derived fuels in the transportation sector to be replaced by more environmentally friendly energy sources. However, to be a viable technology, the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide needs to have both high current densities and energetic efficiencies (Chapter 1). Although many researchers have studied the electrochemical reduction of CO2 including parameters such as catalysts, electrolytes and temperature, further investigation is needed to improve the understanding of this process and optimize the performance (Chapter 2). This dissertation reports the development and validation of a microfluidic reactor for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (Chapter 3). The design uses a flowing liquid electrolyte instead of the typical polymer electrolyte membrane. In addition to other benefits, this flowing electrolyte gives the reactor great flexibility, allowing independent analysis of each electrode and the testing of a wide variety of conditions. In this work, the microfluidic reactor has been used in the following areas: • Comparison of different metal catalysts for the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 4). • Investigation of the effects of the electrolyte pH on the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 5). • Study of amine based electrolytes for lowering the overpotentials for CO2 reduction and suppressing undesirable hydrogen evolution (Chapter 6). • Investigation of the effects of reaction temperature on the Faradaic efficiency and current density for CO2 reduction on several catalysts (Chapter 7). These studies demonstrate the utility of this flexible reactor design and provide increased understanding of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 and the critical parameters for optimization of this process.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Whipple, Devin T."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Chemical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kenis, Paul J.A.","Krein, Philip T.","Schroeder, Charles M.","Zhao, Huimin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-08-26T15:24:40Z","date_published":"2011-08-26T15:24:40Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:26Z","subjects":["electrochemical reduction","carbon dioxide"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2011 Devin T. Whipple"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26356","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kenis, Paul J.A.","Krein, Philip T.","Schroeder, Charles M.","Zhao, Huimin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Whipple, Devin T."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2011-08-26T15:24:40Z","2013-08-27T10:00:25Z","2011-08"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Chemical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["electrochemical reduction","carbon dioxide"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2011 Devin T. Whipple"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26356"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Diminishing supplies of conventional energy sources and growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions present significant challenges to supplying the world’s rapidly increasing demand for energy. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has the potential to address many of these issues by providing a means of storing electricity in chemical form. Storing electrical energy as chemicals is beneficial for leveling the output of clean, but intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Electrical energy stored as chemicals can also be used as carbon neutral fuels for portable applications allowing petroleum derived fuels in the transportation sector to be replaced by more environmentally friendly energy sources. However, to be a viable technology, the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide needs to have both high current densities and energetic efficiencies (Chapter 1). Although many researchers have studied the electrochemical reduction of CO2 including parameters such as catalysts, electrolytes and temperature, further investigation is needed to improve the understanding of this process and optimize the performance (Chapter 2). This dissertation reports the development and validation of a microfluidic reactor for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (Chapter 3). The design uses a flowing liquid electrolyte instead of the typical polymer electrolyte membrane. In addition to other benefits, this flowing electrolyte gives the reactor great flexibility, allowing independent analysis of each electrode and the testing of a wide variety of conditions. In this work, the microfluidic reactor has been used in the following areas: • Comparison of different metal catalysts for the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 4). • Investigation of the effects of the electrolyte pH on the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 5). • Study of amine based electrolytes for lowering the overpotentials for CO2 reduction and suppressing undesirable hydrogen evolution (Chapter 6). • Investigation of the effects of reaction temperature on the Faradaic efficiency and current density for CO2 reduction on several catalysts (Chapter 7). These studies demonstrate the utility of this flexible reactor design and provide increased understanding of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 and the critical parameters for optimization of this process.","Item withdrawn by Mark Zulauf (zulauf@illinois.edu) on 2011-06-30T13:54:05Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Theses & Dissertations (ID: 1) No. of bitstreams: 1 Whipple_Devin.pdf: 4723382 bytes, checksum: 887c724d7addf81287e41f3f31fd98c9 (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2011-08-26T15:24:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Whipple_Devin.pdf: 4803473 bytes, checksum: f1dcfa8f633ceb249107500ec1efae5a (MD5) license.txt: 4063 bytes, checksum: d01f8401dc7fcf12b295fc1d69aa33d3 (MD5)","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by William Ingram (wingram2@illinois.edu) on 2011-08-26T15:26:22Z Item is restricted until 2013-08-26T15:25:28Z","Item reinstated by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2013-08-27T10:00:25Z Item was in collections: Dissertations and Theses - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ID: 591) University of Illinois Dissertations and Theses (ID: 204) No. of bitstreams: 3 Whipple_Devin.pdf.txt: 231547 bytes, checksum: 742b1b29652c53c63eba15c21cb6687e (MD5) Whipple_Devin.pdf: 4803473 bytes, checksum: f1dcfa8f633ceb249107500ec1efae5a (MD5) license.txt: 4063 bytes, checksum: d01f8401dc7fcf12b295fc1d69aa33d3 (MD5)","Item released from any restrictions by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2013-08-27T10:00:25Z"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Microfluidic platform for studying the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kenis, Paul J.A.","Krein, Philip T.","Schroeder, Charles M.","Zhao, Huimin"],"dc:creator":["Whipple, Devin T."],"dc:date":["2011-08-26T15:24:40Z","2013-08-27T10:00:25Z","2011-08"],"dc:description":["Diminishing supplies of conventional energy sources and growing concern over greenhouse gas emissions present significant challenges to supplying the world’s rapidly increasing demand for energy. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide has the potential to address many of these issues by providing a means of storing electricity in chemical form. Storing electrical energy as chemicals is beneficial for leveling the output of clean, but intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Electrical energy stored as chemicals can also be used as carbon neutral fuels for portable applications allowing petroleum derived fuels in the transportation sector to be replaced by more environmentally friendly energy sources. However, to be a viable technology, the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide needs to have both high current densities and energetic efficiencies (Chapter 1). Although many researchers have studied the electrochemical reduction of CO2 including parameters such as catalysts, electrolytes and temperature, further investigation is needed to improve the understanding of this process and optimize the performance (Chapter 2). This dissertation reports the development and validation of a microfluidic reactor for the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (Chapter 3). The design uses a flowing liquid electrolyte instead of the typical polymer electrolyte membrane. In addition to other benefits, this flowing electrolyte gives the reactor great flexibility, allowing independent analysis of each electrode and the testing of a wide variety of conditions. In this work, the microfluidic reactor has been used in the following areas: • Comparison of different metal catalysts for the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 4). • Investigation of the effects of the electrolyte pH on the reduction of CO2 to formic acid and carbon monoxide (Chapter 5). • Study of amine based electrolytes for lowering the overpotentials for CO2 reduction and suppressing undesirable hydrogen evolution (Chapter 6). • Investigation of the effects of reaction temperature on the Faradaic efficiency and current density for CO2 reduction on several catalysts (Chapter 7). These studies demonstrate the utility of this flexible reactor design and provide increased understanding of the electrochemical reduction of CO2 and the critical parameters for optimization of this process.","Item withdrawn by Mark Zulauf (zulauf@illinois.edu) on 2011-06-30T13:54:05Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Theses & Dissertations (ID: 1) No. of bitstreams: 1 Whipple_Devin.pdf: 4723382 bytes, checksum: 887c724d7addf81287e41f3f31fd98c9 (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2011-08-26T15:24:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Whipple_Devin.pdf: 4803473 bytes, checksum: f1dcfa8f633ceb249107500ec1efae5a (MD5) license.txt: 4063 bytes, checksum: d01f8401dc7fcf12b295fc1d69aa33d3 (MD5)","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by William Ingram (wingram2@illinois.edu) on 2011-08-26T15:26:22Z Item is restricted until 2013-08-26T15:25:28Z","Item reinstated by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2013-08-27T10:00:25Z Item was in collections: Dissertations and Theses - Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ID: 591) University of Illinois Dissertations and Theses (ID: 204) No. of bitstreams: 3 Whipple_Devin.pdf.txt: 231547 bytes, checksum: 742b1b29652c53c63eba15c21cb6687e (MD5) Whipple_Devin.pdf: 4803473 bytes, checksum: f1dcfa8f633ceb249107500ec1efae5a (MD5) license.txt: 4063 bytes, checksum: d01f8401dc7fcf12b295fc1d69aa33d3 (MD5)","Item released from any restrictions by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2013-08-27T10:00:25Z"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26356"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2011 Devin T. Whipple"],"dc:subject":["electrochemical reduction","carbon dioxide"],"dc:title":["Microfluidic platform for studying the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Chemical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:26Z"}