Research Focus
We investigate how to build a chemical process that makes synergies between smart and clean technologies
We are a novel research consortium that combines multiple unique expertise present within Flanders, Belgium. Our investigation serves the dual purpose of reducing CO2 emissions while creating new opportunities for the chemical industry, thus helping overall to mitigate the effects of climate change.
CATCO2RE
Our action against the rising concentrations of CO2 starts with the capture of CO2 from gas streams. If we obtain purified CO2, this can be combined with other materials to produce valuable goods. The venture is to produce methanol, methane (and other value-added chemicals) by mixing CO2 with renewable hydrogen. The powerful trick to boost an efficient chemical mix is to find and use selective catalysts that are active at milder reaction conditions. All the mentioned technologies can work independently and also together in a modular assembly, forming a versatile device that we have called Methatanor.
There are two main questions we address during our investigation. First, what are the effects of the different CO2 sources and impurities. Second, to know if CO2 capture directly from the open air can be integrated in the methatanor. During our research journey we are also going to investigate scientific breakthroughs ideas, or blue sky research.
CARBON CAPTURE and STORAGE
The capture of CO2 directly tackles climate change by reducing greenhouse emissions in the environment. Our goal is also to enable the use of CO2 as a building block.
Building blocks are the basic components of organic chemical synthesis. CO2 is an extremely attractive candidate for building block, due to its non-flammable, non-corrosive, non-toxic and abundant nature.
THE METHOD
To capture and separate CO2 from a gas stream, we plan to develop a versatile technology that can be adapted to the unique characteristics of each emission, these are: the composition, the amount of CO2 concentration and the scale of the source. We focus on small to mid-scale applications.
The capture process consists on exposing a gas stream to solids with selective surface properties, called microporous solids. When CO2 molecules touch them, they adhere to the surface and get trapped, a process called adsorption. Afterwards CO2 can be removed, isolated and purified. Only then CO2 can be used as a starting material or building block.
Our goal is to develop novel methods and types of structured adsorbents, which will lead to an energy efficient technology. We refer to electrical swing adsorption, thermal swing adsorption and new structured adsorbents based on the electrochemical deposition of metal-organic frameworks.
RENEWABLE HYDROGEN
Producing hydrogen (H2) from solar water splitting
We design a device that uses electricity generated with solar power. The green electricity is put in contact with water, causing electrolysis or the split of water into molecular hydrogen (H2) and oxygen gas. The device we design is photo-electrocatalytic (PEC) cell.
Our PEC cell will function with low energy using these key tricks:
- to use powerful earth-abundant electrocatalysts to speed up the reactions;
- to include a permeable membrane in the water area, which induces H2+ to approach the negative current voltage and oxygen (O2-) the positive one. It is a low-cost alkaline anion exchange membrane.
The PEC cells will be designed as modular units that can be assembled together, forming a decentralized system that can produce H2 in small and medium scale. The long term goal is to achieve a stable and efficient technology that becomes an alternative to the non sustainable fossil-based hydrogen industry, which dominates 99% of the market.
It is worth noting that electricity coming from sunlight is difficult and expensive to store. An alternative solution to the surplus of solar energy is to use the solar electricity to produce H2, which is easier to store and it has many uses in the chemical industry. Hydrogen could thus serve as a perfect complement to electricity in applications that require large storage capacities or long storage times.
CATALYST DESIGN
Providing the right conditions for CO2 utilization
The fun part of mixing purified CO2 and molecular hydrogen is to provide the right conditions to produce fuels, since the chemical synthesis of CO2 with hydrogen leads to many pathways and the formation of diverse products.
To control the CO2 hydrogenation process and provide the certainty that, from the many possible products, methanol and methane fuels will be obtained, we need breakthroughs in catalysis development. The challenge is to develop novel catalysts that:
- Are active at lower temperatures. If we could operate at 200 ०C instead of current 250 ०C, then the selectivity towards methanol improves up to 94%!
- Are active at lower pressure conditions. Currently it operates at high pressures (50 bar), which implies a high energy consumption.
- Operate in a controlled environment that, from the many activation pathways, selects the route that favors methanol and methane synthesis. For this we need to thoroughly study and understand the thermodynamics, kinetics, and key reaction intermediates.
Our strategy is to combine molecular modelling and kinetic experiments with state-of-the-art characterization techniques. We are inspired by recent developments in homogeneous catalysis that show promising activity at 150 ०C. These studies modify transition metals such as Ni and Ru, which have a high intrinsic activity for CO2 hydrogenation, but a poor selectivity for methanol.
Impact on the Methatanor construction
Innovative catalysts can have an impactful effect in the commercialization of the Methatanor. Our novel catalysts will contribute to increase the yield of methane, which leads to energy savings and reduced investment costs, especially those associated with heating, compression, downstream purification and recirculation.
SEPARATION
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The Methatanor is a multifunctional device to produce solar fuels and chemicals. It includes all the multiple expertise of CATCO2RE and it is the very expression of its name, meaning that waste CO2 is recycled and synthesize with H2 to produce methane.
To put all the pieces that form the methatanor together is technically very cumbersome. We would need to find a physical space where gas streams occur near a sunny area, with a photovoltaic device and setups to produce CO2 purification and solar hydrogen production. A realistic and practical solution is to design the methatanor as a modular device that has separated units for each part of the production chain. These units can assemble with the rest in a decentralized fashion.
Methanol and methane are valuable fuels and excellent energy carriers. Methanol is also a building block and a precursor to commodity chemicals. The current production of methanol and methane is not sustainable: it relies on fossil fuels, which costs are heavily linked to the volatile price of natural gas. Our Methatanor can become a real alternative to this industry, being not only overall more sustainable but also economically competitive.