Electrocatalytic Reduction of Carbon-halogen Bonds in Aqueous Media

In this project, Professor Hailiang Wang of Yale University is advancing chemical reactions that can use electricity as the energy input to decompose chlorine-containing organic compounds in water. These compounds exist widely in the environment and are often toxic to humans and organisms. The goal is to use electricity to convert them into harmless hydrocarbons and chloride ions. Guided by fundamental mechanistic understanding, the team will develop selective, active, and durable catalyst materials that can be integrated into electrified filtration devices, which simultaneously decompose pollutants and filter water under mild conditions. This project will also provide educational opportunities in chemistry and catalysis, via classroom teaching, research training, and outreach activities, to students in STEM fields. The combined research and education efforts will pave the way for future water treatment technologies, raise public awareness for environmental safety, and train the next generation of scientists and engineers. Professor Hailiang Wang of Yale University is studying the catalytic chemistry of electrochemical reduction of chlorinated organic compounds. Led by the central hypothesis that the dechlorination electrocatalysis is regulated by the interplay between the rate-determining step and the strength and configuration of the carbon-chlorine bond, this project will elucidate electrocatalytic dechlorination kinetics of carbon-chlorine bonds with varying chemical environment, reveal electrochemical dechlorination pathways via in situ vibrational spectroscopy measurements, and understand the drastically different behaviors of single-site catalysts versus multi-site catalysts towards electrochemical dechlorination reactions. The research will establish fundamental correlations among reactant structure, favored reaction pathway, and effective catalyst structure, addressing the selectivity and activity challenges in electrochemical dechlorination catalysis. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.