NSERC-DFG SUSTAIN: Plasma-electrification of chemical produce – towards a green circular industry with net-zero carbon output and sustainable processing (PLANET)

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PLANET identifies a novel approach for non-thermal plasma-based dissociation of molecules as a means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as CO2 content in the atmosphere. The aim is to find innovative solutions for the climate crisis. Via steered vibrational excitation we will split CO2 into oxygen (O2) and carbon monoxide (CO), which can be further used to e.g., produce fuels to reach net-zero carbon output. Vibrational excitation up to the point of molecule dissociation - known as vibrational ladder climbing - is key to efficient plasma-based dissociation of CO2. Vibrational ladder climbing is maximized by collisions with low-energy electrons. We use a novel time-based control of the electron energy to generate these electrons. Since the required electric fields are too low to sustain a plasma at atmospheric pressure, PLANET’s approach is to use a combination of voltage waveform tailoring (VWT) and high voltage ns-pulses. The pulses achieve breakdown and VWT allows us to control the non-thermal energy-transfer to the electrons in the time domain and to sustain the discharge with an electric field low enough to selectively excite the vibrational distribution. Using complementary hybrid simulation and novel experimental ultrafast diagnostic methods that observe the excitation and de-excitation on a non-adiabatic timescale, we will gain the necessary insight into the fundamental plasma chemistry. The three major research challenges of plasma-based CO2 reforming addressed in PLANET are i) to move beyond state-of-the-art in electric field tailoring, ii) to model the complex plasma chemistry by developing new hybrid approaches, and iii) to analyze the CO2 dissociation pathways, by resolving the non-adiabatic dynamics of the population of the vibrational energy states with mid-IR ultrafast spectroscopy.