Description du projet
La «photosynthèse» des combustibles à l’échelle industrielle, un moyen naturel de protéger l’environnement
Une excellente façon de réduire le CO2 dans l’atmosphère est de le capter pour le convertir en d’autres produits chimiques et carburants à base de carbone de grande valeur. L’électro-réduction du CO2, qui consiste à réduire le CO2 avec de l’électricité, est l’une des technologies les plus prometteuses dans ce domaine, en particulier lorsque cette électricité est produite à partir de sources d’énergie renouvelables. Le projet CF-CO2R, financé par l’UE, s’attaquera aux défis posés par les électrocatalyseurs actuels grâce à une campagne combinée d’expériences et de modélisation. Des électrocatalyseurs hautement efficaces permettront à l’électro-réduction du CO2 de répondre aux exigences de la mise en œuvre industrielle, et s’accompagneront d’avantages à la fois pour l’environnement et pour la position concurrentielle de l’UE.
Objectif
In the light of rising levels of atmospheric CO2 and associated climate change, the development of advanced techniques for CO2 conversion is of foremost importance. Particularly, many efforts have been made recently to synthesize efficient electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction to carbon fuels using renewable electricity. Nevertheless, to meet the requirement of industrial implementation, even the best performance of these recently developed electrocatalysts must be increased by one order of magnitude. Currently, energy efficiency of CO2 electroreduction is limited by energy-loss in catholyte and transport of CO2 to the cathode surface. The importance of transport limitations will grow as currents approach the higher levels required for industry. The vision for this work is the design of an efficient catholyte-free electrode structure and reactor, in combination with state-of-the-art photovoltaic, that can provide for the industry-ready artificial photosynthesis of carbon fuels. To achieve this goal, we will be dedicated to develop a membrane electrode assembly cell with the design of a catholyte-free flow-through-porous electrode which will allow the incorporation of newly types of nanostructured electrocatalysts and efficient CO2 transfer and conversion into specific carbon fuels such as ethylene or ethanol. Particularly, the proposed research aims include: (i) Development of efficient electrocatalysts that allow the formation of ideal products (ethylene/ethanol); (ii) Enhancement of electrocatalytic activity and stability via system engineering; (iii) Understanding the fundamentals of CO2 electroreduction and cell mechanics to accelerate the development of catholyte-free flow-through-porous electrode for the design of a scalable, high-performance CO2 electroconversion cell through both experiments and theoretical modeling; (iv) Achieving the scalable solar fuels production with CO2 reduction and photovoltaic in tandem.
Champ scientifique
- natural scienceschemical sciencescatalysiselectrocatalysis
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaliphatic compounds
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energyphotovoltaic
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinateur
1015 Lausanne
Suisse