Review-Electrochemical Growth of Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene from Ambient Carbon Dioxide: Synergy with Conventional Gas-Phase Growth Mechanisms

The rising levels of atmospheric CO2 threaten the promise of human sustainability on earth. Electrochemical conversion of CO2 into secondary chemicals and materials presents the most economically viable approach to solve this global challenge, and provides a method to utilize otherwisewasted CO2 as a chemical feedstock for the production of valuable products. Challenged by the processing cost versus value of converted materials, known routes for the production of hydrocarbons and alcohol products remain impractical. Electrochemical CO2 conversion into high-value carbon nanostructures presents a new area of research with the opportunity to build upon the last two decades of understanding of gas-phase synthesis processes for fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene. However, efforts so far to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into functional carbon materials are limited by a systems-level approach that provides only coarse control over the types and quality of materials that can be synthesized. In this short review, we make a strong case for the synergy between the catalytic mechanisms that have been developed over past decades to understand carbon nanostructure growth and the emerging research area where electrochemical reduction of ambient CO2 can be used to produce carbon nanostructured materials. This presents a new opportunity for researchers to address one of the most pressing environmental issues for modern mankind with the synthesis of carbon materials that will shape our future. (C) The Author(s) 2017. Published by ECS.