Cornell University scientists have reexamined a century-old electrochemical equation, the Cottrell equation, to help convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into a functional product and manage this greenhouse gas. Named after chemist Frederick Gardner Cottrell, who devised it in 1903, the equation now serves as a valuable tool for modern researchers. By using electrochemistry in a controlled laboratory environment, scientists can gain a clearer understanding of the various reactions that carbon dioxide can undergo. The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide presents an opportunity to transform the gas from an environmental burden into a feedstock for chemical products or as a medium for storing renewable electricity in the form of chemical bonds, as nature does. Their work was published in the journal ACS Catalysis "In the case of carbon dioxide, the better we understand the reaction pathways, the better we can control the reaction—which is what we want in the long term," said lead author Rileigh Casebolt DiDomenico, a doctoral student in chemical engineering at Cornell under the supervision of Tobias Hanrath. (CORNELL UNIVERSITY)

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