Melanie Weichselbaumer
Jun 22, 2015
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Abstract
This study uses pyridine and Rhenium bipyridine functionalized polythiophenes as heterogeneous catalysts for carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and its atmospheric concentration has increased extremely in the past decades. This alarming trend has to be stopped or, at least, reduced, since greenhouse gases lead to global warming. One way is to use carbon dioxide as a chemical feedstock for higher energy molecules like methane or methanol [5]. Bocarsley reported already in 1994 that pyridinium ion can be used as a homogenous catalyst for CO2-reduction [34]. In this study, pyridine is linked to a thiophene unit bearing an aliphatic chain to generate 4-(7-(3-thienyl)heptyl)pyridine. Our second approach is to immobilize a [Re(4-Methyl-4’-(7-(3-thienyl)heptyl)2,2’-bipyridinyl)(CO)3Cl] on an electrode and reduce carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. Subsequent electropolymerization on Pt-electrode gives a pyridine functionalised polythiophene and a Rhenium bipyridine functionalised polythiophene. Both polmers are employed as heterogenous catalyst for CO2-reduction. The electrolysis experiments were carried on for 40 hour and the products analysed by gas chromatography (of headspace and solution) and ionic chromatography.