J. Will Medlin, University of Colorado Boulder (Principal Investigator)

Daniel K. Schwartz, University of Colorado Boulder (Co-investigator)

One of the major research themes for catalysis by solid materials is achieving control over both the active site - the atomic configuration that allows a reaction to happen at high rates - and the environment surrounding that site. Such control would allow one to precisely steer reactivity toward formation of desired reaction products, improving efficiency and sustainability. The focus of this project is on controlling the chemical environment around well-defined active sites to elucidate how the near-surface environment translates to changes in catalytic rates, with an emphasis on enhancing rates of desired reactions and suppressing them for unwanted byproducts. Here, self-assembled monolayers will be deposited on surfaces with atomically dispersed metals to allow precise positioning of the active metal with respect to a functional group (such as an amine) on an organic co-catalyst. By investigating the effect of this positioning on catalyst properties and the efficiency of key reactions such as carbon dioxide reduction, the goal is to address fundamental questions in bifunctional catalysis related to the cooperation between two distinct catalytic moieties, an area of major emphasis in the field. To accelerate the research, this program will emphasize application of analysis methods to large data sets to enable rapid evaluation of hypotheses and identification of novel materials. The project plan also incorporates training of students at various levels, from high school to post-graduate, and emphasizes structured career development activities for those trainees..