INFEWS: U.S. - CHINA: Solar-driven Carbon Dioxide Utilization for Environmental Sustainability

INFEWS：美国 - 中国：太阳能驱动的二氧化碳利用促进环境可持续发展

• 批准号: 1803200
• 负责人: Feng Jiao
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-08-01 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1803200&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: INFEWS; U.S.; CHINA; Solar; driven

The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus, from a global perspective, can be described as interconnected resource systems of food, energy, and water. As the world's population expands to the expected 9 billion by 2050, there will be a need to balance different resources across these three systems to obtain different user goals without putting undue strain on the ecosystems that provide these resources. Both food and water sectors rely heavily on the availability of inexpensive energy. As a consequence, carbon dioxide emissions resulting from water treatment and transport, agricultural practices, and food processing, storage, packaging, and transportation represent an entry point to relieve some of the stresses of interrelated food, energy, and water systems. In collaboration with researchers at Tianjin University in China, the Jiao research laboratory will design an electorlysis system that uses a copper catalyst to convert carbon dioxide and water to carbon-based fuels. This device, once scaled up, could potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of the carbon-neutral solar electricity. Such a system could lower the environmental impact of the fossil-fuel industry and reduce the need for water and land-intensive alternatives such as biofuel crops, and thus, increase the nation's energy, food, and water security. The Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus is the compilation of the nitrogen, carbon, phosphorous, and water cycles interacting in equilibrium. Due to optimization of individual components of FEW systems in isolation, these cycles are quickly being pushed beyond the limit of their natural equilibria. One remedy to this challenge is to bring the four major cycles back into equilibrium by developing novel, renewable energy powered and efficient technologies. Through close collaboration with the Chinese research partners at Tianjin University, the Jiao research group at the University of Delaware will design a solar-driven catalysis system capable of producing liquid carbon fuels from CO2 and H2O. The key objectives of the proposed work are to: (1) rationally design and synthesize catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction with a high selectivity for liquid C2/C3 products; (2) develop and evaluate an integrated PV/CO2 electrolysis reactor prototype; (3) perform techno-economic analysis to identify the key technical gaps for implementation; and (4) conduct life-cycle analysis to determine the reduction in CO2 emissions and environmental impacts. Starting with a computationally-driven Cu-catalyst design, the US and Chinese researchers will synthesize and analyze nanostructured CO2 catalysts for a solar-powered electrolyzer device. To test multiple designs, the Chinese researchers will 3D print different electrochemical cells for performance screening to optimize the design for CO2 reduction. The Jiao laboratory, using modeling methods, will evaluate these different prototypes for optimal performance to reduce the number of design iterations. The proposed research has the potential to be transformative and impact many fronts. Specifically, the research will develop a computation-driven approach to enable and accelerate the rational design of advanced electrocatalysts for CO2 conversion and beyond; (2) create a new strategy of reaction and process design to overcome the fundamental challenges associated with electrochemical CO2 conversion, which could be extended to other important chemical processes, such as dinitrogen reduction to ammonia and methane partial oxidation reaction; (3) generate insights into design and engineering solar-powered CO2 electrolysis processes at the device and system level; (4) provide the research community with reliable models to assess the potential economic and environmental impacts of CO2 electrolysis technology. This collaboration will lead to new knowledge that will help both the US and China greatly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, thereby providing an effective tool to close the carbon cycle and relieve a major stress on the FEW Nexus. Further, the ties fostered via this collaborative effort between the US and the Chinese teams will enhance the understanding of researchers of the other country?s academic/research environment and lead to shared future endeavors.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

从全球角度来看，粮食-能源-水（FEW）关系可以描述为粮食、能源和水相互关联的资源系统。预计到 2050 年，世界人口将增长至 90 亿，因此需要平衡这三个系统中的不同资源，以获得不同的用户目标，同时又不对提供这些资源的生态系统造成过度压力。食品和水部门都严重依赖廉价能源的供应。 因此，水处理和运输、农业实践以及食品加工、储存、包装和运输产生的二氧化碳排放是缓解相关食品、能源和水系统压力的切入点。焦研究实验室将与中国天津大学的研究人员合作，设计一种电解系统，使用铜催化剂将二氧化碳和水转化为碳基燃料。该设备一旦扩大规模，就有可能通过使用碳中性太阳能来减少温室气体排放。这样的系统可以降低化石燃料工业对环境的影响，减少对水和土地密集型替代品（如生物燃料作物）的需求，从而提高国家的能源、粮食和水安全。食物-能量-水 (FEW) 关系是氮、碳、磷和水循环平衡相互作用的集合。由于 FEW 系统的各个组件的孤立优化，这些循环很快就超出了其自然平衡的极限。应对这一挑战的一个补救措施是通过开发新颖、可再生能源驱动的高效技术，使四大循环恢复平衡。通过与天津大学的中国研究伙伴密切合作，特拉华大学的焦研究小组将设计一种太阳能驱动的催化系统，能够从二氧化碳和水中生产液态碳燃料。该工作的主要目标是：（1）合理设计和合成对液态C2/C3产物具有高选择性的电化学CO2还原催化剂； (2) 开发并评估集成PV/CO2电解反应器原型； （3）进行技术经济分析，找出实施的关键技术差距； (4) 进行生命周期分析，以确定二氧化碳排放量和环境影响的减少量。美国和中国的研究人员将从计算驱动的铜催化剂设计开始，合成和分析用于太阳能电解装置的纳米结构二氧化碳催化剂。为了测试多种设计，中国研究人员将 3D 打印不同的电化学电池进行性能筛选，以优化二氧化碳减排的设计。焦实验室将使用建模方法评估这些不同原型的最佳性能，以减少设计迭代次数。拟议的研究有可能带来变革并影响许多领域。具体来说，该研究将开发一种计算驱动的方法，以实现并加速用于二氧化碳转化等的先进电催化剂的合理设计； （2）创建新的反应和工艺设计策略，以克服与电化学CO2转化相关的基本挑战，该策略可以扩展到其他重要的化学过程，例如氮还原成氨和甲烷部分氧化反应； (3) 深入了解设备和系统级别的太阳能二氧化碳电解工艺的设计和工程； (4)为研究界提供可靠的模型来评估CO2电解技术的潜在经济和环境影响。此次合作将带来新的知识，帮助美国和中国大幅减少温室气体排放，从而提供有效的工具来关闭碳循环并缓解 FEW Nexus 的主要压力。此外，通过美国和中国团队之间的合作努力建立的联系将增强研究人员对对方学术/研究环境的了解，并带来共同的未来努力。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Carbon monoxide electroreduction as an emerging platform for carbon utilization

• DOI: 10.1038/s41929-019-0388-2
• 发表时间: 2019-12-01
• 期刊: NATURE CATALYSIS
• 影响因子: 37.8
• 作者: Jouny, Matthew;Hutchings, Gregory S.;Jiao, Feng
• 通讯作者: Jiao, Feng

Techno-economic assessment of low-temperature carbon dioxide electrolysis

• DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00739-x
• 发表时间: 2021-07-12
• 期刊: NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
• 影响因子: 27.6
• 作者: Shin, Haeun;Hansen, Kentaro U.;Jiao, Feng
• 通讯作者: Jiao, Feng

Overcoming immiscibility toward bimetallic catalyst library

• DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz6844
• 发表时间: 2020-04-01
• 期刊: SCIENCE ADVANCES
• 影响因子: 13.6
• 作者: Yang, Chunpeng;Ko, Byung Hee;Hu, Liangbing
• 通讯作者: Hu, Liangbing