CO2 emissions from human activities are the primary drivers of global warming. By 2019, the global average temperature had risen by 1.1 °C above pre-industrial levels, with a continuing upward trend of 0.2 °C per decade. According to numerous reports, an escalation of 2 °C is associated with serious negative impacts on the natural environment and human health and well-being. As a key building block in the chemical industry, ethylene is widely used to produce chemical intermediates and polymers, such as ethylene oxide, ethylene glycol, and polyethylene. The global annual ethylene production reached about 180 million tons in 2018, exceeding any other organic chemical. It consumes about 20 GJ of process energy and emits 1-2 tons of CO2 per ton of ethylene, accounting for >0.6% of anthropogenic emissions. Because of the shale gas revolution, ethane, as the main component of natural gas liquids (NGL, contained in shale gas deposits), became much cheaper, stimulating the drastic growth of ethane utilization. Compared with the traditional Steam cracking of ethylene method for preparing ethylene, proton ceramic electrochemical cell (PCEC) is one of the most promising energy conversion and storage technologies, enabling direct electrochemical conversion of surplus electricity from renewable energy into valuable chemicals. In this project, the improved PCECs equipped with high-performance anode catalysts will be used as an environmentally friendly, efficient, and reliable way to co-produce ethylene and hydrogen from ethane at low temperature (400-550 °C), demonstrating ethane conversion of not less than 50% and ethylene selectivity of not less than 80%.
