Welcome to the Electrobuffs Research Group website!

We are a multidisciplinary electrochemistry research group based at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Chemical & Biological Engineering department. We work both at CU Boulder and at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colorado through our affiliation with the Renewable And Sustainable Energy Institute at CU. We focus on electrochemical processes that can be powered by renewable energy sources for a sustainable future.

Our research covers length scales across disciplines focusing on the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂ER). This involves using electrochemistry to convert atmospheric or emitted CO₂ into useful products, like CO, formate, or ethylene. We focus on realistic process conditions and scaling effects, with the world-class facilities at NREL enabling our research progress. Check out our Research and Publication pages to learn about how we are leading the field.

A Renewable Future

Without intervention, global temperatures will rise 2.6-4.8 °C (4.7-8.6 °F) by 2081-2100 due to human-induced climate change. Carbon capture and utilization are necessary to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on global warming. Converting CO₂ electrochemically to carbonaceous products is a potentially economically viable process to treat captured CO₂. This motivates our group to explore every aspect of the process, from catalyst design and reactor engineering to carbon capture and systems engineering, with a focus on designing systems at relevant scales.