SusChEM: Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation of Biorenewable Feedstock to Fuels and Chemicals

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PI: Jean-Philippe Tessonnier Proposal Number: 1512126Plant biomass represents an abundant, cheap, and renewable feedstock for the production of liquid transportation fuels and chemicals. The highly selective chemical conversion of biomass to specific biofuels and chemicals requires catalysts. However, to be cost-effective and truly sustainable, biomass conversion processes that use catalysts based on materials abundant in the Earths crust must be developed. Furthermore, if these new catalysts can be used within an electrochemical process, the combined electrocatalytic process offers a whole new route to selectively tailor the conversion of biomass into fuels and useful chemicals, particularly through a process called hydrogenation. This project will develop a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms involved in these reactions to rationally design more efficient and selective biomass conversion processes. Educational activities offered by the project focus on the development of a series of short videos on renewables and nanotechnology that primarily targets middle and high school teachers, as they are in a unique position to generate excitement and curiosity for science in a large body of students.The goal of this research is to explore new electrocatalysts and electrocatalytic pathways to hydrogenate biorenewable molecules into biofuels and chemicals in aqueous phase reaction medium at ambient temperatures. Bimetallic catalysts based on non-noble metals will be rationally designed to suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction on nanostructured carbon electrodes in order to increase hydrogen availability on the catalyst surface. The proposed research will seek to gain fundamental understanding of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation of C=C and C=O bonds in various compounds derived from biorenewable sources, particularly levulinic and muconic acid, in water under ambient conditions. This information will be then used to rationally design electrocatalysts with improved activity and selectivity towards target products in scalable electrolysis reactors. The interdisciplinary nature of this research will provide students at the graduate and undergraduate levels with training in electrochemical engineering, catalytic reactions, biorenewables, and biofuels. Outreach activities involve the professional development of K-12 teachers and the translation of their research experience into their curricula and classrooms, which will involve the development of short videos on broad challenges in energy, climate change, renewables, and nanotechnology.