We have developed a special reactor design which can perform heterogeneous catalysis to convert C1 molecules to value-added products. Both methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are greenhouse gases, but are available in large supply, and are often flared or vented. A promising strategy to efficiently utilize these abundant molecules is their transformation to easily transported liquid chemicals, which is particularly attractive because this conversion not only reduces emissions of the greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but also produces commodity chemicals that can be either used as fuels or as precursors for many industrial processes. In this project, we have fabricated a prototype membrane reactor, containing catalytically active, highly oriented zeolite ZSM-5 thin-films for the conversion of CO2 and CH4. We had earlier demonstrated a method for fabricating catalytically active, highly oriented thin-films of zeolite ZSM-5 on various dense substrates. In this Proof of Concept project, we developed zeolite ZSM-5 thin-films on porous substrates which served as membranes for catalysis and to convert CH4 and CO2 into liquid commodity chemicals, especially aromatics. The membranes were incorporated into a prototype reactor, designed and implemented as part of the project, for reaction testing and optimization. Along with the experimental work we created a market analysis, performed a patent search and later we plan to pursue intellectual property coverage through a patent application.
