New Materials for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Capture

二氧化碳捕获和储存是一项重要的温室气体减排技术，有助于应对气候危机。传统的胺技术对于碳捕获是成熟的，但具有局限性，包括来自热再生、胺降解和胺蒸发的大量能量成本。该项目将探索一种新兴的方法，使用电化学电池来运行二氧化碳捕获循环。这种方法的前景是二氧化碳捕获的更高能源效率，以及与电网的轻松集成，但这种应用的材料开发仍处于起步阶段。在这个项目中，我们将开发新的电极材料，并使用电化学和气体吸附方法测试它们的电化学二氧化碳捕获性能。我们的目标材料具有（i）大的二氧化碳吸附能力，（ii）在现实条件下稳定的循环性能，以及（iii）通过电化学变吸附的低再生能量。我们将进一步使用光谱学来理解支持电化学捕获过程的分子过程。该项目可以改进材料，帮助减少温室气体排放。

Carbon dioxide capture and storage is an important greenhouse gas mitigation technology that can help tackle the climate crisis. Traditional amine technology is well established for carbon capture, but has limitations that include, large energy costs from thermal regeneration, amine degradation and amine evaporation. This project will explore an emerging approach that uses an electrochemical cell to run the carbon dioxide capture cycle. The promise of this approach is a higher energy efficiency for carbon dioxide capture, and facile integration with the electric grid, but materials development for this application remains in its infancy. In this project we will develop new electrode materials and test their performance for electrochemical carbon dioxide capture using electrochemistry and gas adsorption methods. We are targeting materials with (i) large carbon dioxide adsorption capacities, (ii) stable cycling performance under realistic conditions, and (iii) low regeneration energies via electrochemical swing adsorption. We will further use spectroscopy to understand the molecular processes that underpin the electrochemical capture process. This project can lead to improved materials that can help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.