Published by Todd Bush on January 22, 2024
HONG KONG, Jan. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Global warming continues to pose a threat to human society and the ecological systems, and carbon dioxide accounts for the largest proportion of the greenhouse gases that dominate climate warming. To combat climate change and move towards the goal of carbon neutrality, researchers from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have developed a durable, highly selective and energy-efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) electroreduction system that can convert CO2 into ethylene for industrial purposes to provide an effective solution for reducing CO2 emissions. This research was recently published in Nature Energy and won a Gold Medal at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in Switzerland.
>> Additional Reading: GreenH Electrolysis Entered into a Contract to Build a Hydrogen Production and Refueling Station to Power India's First Hydrogen Train
Ethylene (C2H4) is one of the most in-demand chemicals globally and is mainly used in the manufacture of polymers such as polyethylene, which, in turn, can be used to make plastics and chemical fibres commonly used in daily life, such as in shopping bags. However, it is still mostly obtained from petrochemical sources and the production process involves the creation of a very significant carbon footprint.
Led by Prof. Daniel LAU, Chair Professor of Nanomaterials and Head of the Department of Applied Physics, the research team adopted the method of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction - using green electricity to convert carbon dioxide into ethylene, providing a more environmentally friendly alternative and stable ethylene production. The research team is working to promote this emerging technology to bring it closer to mass production, closing the carbon loop and ultimately achieving carbon neutrality.
Prof. Lau's innovation is to dispense with the alkali-metal electrolyte and use pure water as a metal-free anolyte to prevent carbonate formation and salt deposition. The research team denotes their design the APMA system, where A stands for anion-exchange membrane (AEM), P represents the proton-exchange membrane (PEM), and MA indicates the resulting membrane assembly.
When an alkali-metal-free cell stack containing the APMA and a copper electrocatalyst was constructed, it produced ethylene with a high specificity of 50%. It was also able to operate for over 1,000 hours at an industrial-level current of 10A – a very significant increase in lifespan over existing systems, meaning the system can be easily expanded to an industrial scale.
Further tests showed that the formation of carbonates and salts was suppressed, while there was no loss of CO2 or electrolyte. This is crucial, as previous cells using bipolar membranes instead of APMA suffered from electrolyte loss due to the diffusion of alkali-metal ions from the anolyte. The formation of hydrogen in competition with ethylene, another problem affecting earlier systems that used acidic cathode environments, was also minimised.
Another key feature of the process is the specialised electrocatalyst. Copper is used to catalyse a wide range of reactions across the chemical industry. However, the specific catalyst used by the research team took advantage of some distinctive features. The millions of nano-scale copper spheres had richly textured surfaces, with steps, stacking faults and grain boundaries. These "defects" – relative to an ideal metal structure – provided a favourable environment for the reaction to proceed.
Prof. Lau said, "We will work on further improvements to enhance the product selectivity and seek for collaboration opportunities with the industry. It is clear that this APMA cell design underpins a transition to green production of ethylene and other valuable chemicals and can contribute to reducing carbon emissions and achieving the goal of carbon neutrality."
This innovative PolyU project was a collaboration with researchers from the University of Oxford, the "National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre" of Taiwan and Jiangsu University
Follow the money flow of climate, technology, and energy investments to uncover new opportunities and jobs.
Inside this Issue 💡 Bill Gates-backed Startup Says a Global Gold Rush for Buried Hydrogen is Picking Up Momentum 🌍 Largest Hydrogen Highway to Link America and Europe: 10 Million Metric Tons and a...
Inside this Issue 🌿 Gevo to Acquire Red Trail Energy Assets in North Dakota, Including Operating Low-carbon Ethanol Production and Carbon Sequestration Facilities, Expanding Platform for Sustainab...
Inside this Issue 💡 1PointFive's South Texas Direct Air Capture Hub Awarded U.S. Department of Energy Funding 🔗 H2 Clipper's Patented 'Hydrogen Ledger' Uses Blockchain Technology to Track Purity a...
UNDO Lands Groundbreaking Carbon Removals Financing Deal in 'Global First'
UK carbon removal start-up UNDO has secured an innovative debt financing deal, supported by significant corporates like British Airways and Standard Chartered, to accelerate the expansion of its en...
Say Goodbye to EVs – This Water-Hydrogen Engine Will Change Everything in Automotion
Honda launches a model identical to the Dodge Challenger – here’s when you can buy it Neither Toyota nor Hyundai – JD Power confirms the list of most reliable cars on the US market. Chevy an...
New Technology Transforms Captured Carbon Into Clean Energy Source
Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed an innovative electrochemical cell that efficiently converts captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into formate, a green fuel. This new system,...
Holcim Invests in Sublime Systems to Scale Up Innovative Low-carbon Technology
Startup developed proprietary CO2-free electrochemical process to produce low-carbon cement Investment covers Sublime’s first commercial manufacturing facility, giving Holcim a large share of ...
Follow the money flow of climate, technology, and energy investments to uncover new opportunities and jobs.