Objective
Amino acids (AAs) are essential raw materials in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The global AA market was valued at around USD 28 billion in 2023, and is expected to reach around USD 63 billion by 2033. Traditional microbial and chemical processes involve lengthy reaction times, toxic reagents, and large centralized factories. In the context of carbon neutrality, electrosynthesis of AAs with small-scale devices is an ideal alternative to address these issues. However, current AAs electrosynthesis suffers from significant challenges: (1) A lack of comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the active sites-intermediates/target products correlation, leading to an insufficient theoretical foundation for catalyst design. (2) The absence of engineering-focused studies on optimizing efficient flow reaction cells and large-size cathodes limits the practical application at higher current densities.
This project aims to address these challenges through three key approaches: catalyst design, size effect-related mechanistic studies, and engineering of large-scale carbon cathodes and flow cells. Specifically: (1) Synthesize bimetallic active centers (Fe-Ni, Fe-Cu, Ru-Ni, Ru-Cu) with varying sizes, from single atoms to diatoms, clusters, and nanoparticles, for AA electrosynthesis. (2) Conduct mechanistic studies using in situ XAS and FT-IR to identify the true active sites and obtain reaction intermediates, to enhance understanding of reaction mechanisms and the important C-N coupling process, and further establish the intrinsic relationship between active sites, intermediate selectivity, and catalytic activity. (3) Develop large-size carbon electrodes via a self-assembly hydrogel strategy and a flow electrochemical cell system for continuous AA synthesis. This project will greatly expand the understanding of the structure-activity relationship, and guide the development of highly efficient AA electrosynthesis systems on a practical scale.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
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Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
2800 Kongens Lyngby
Denmark