Renewable carbon-based fuels and feedstocks from solar electricity + CO2

这项研究计划旨在推动电力驱动的二氧化碳转化为碳基燃料和原料。我们将开发可再生合成化学品的系统，如乙烯--今天依赖化石燃料来源的工艺。我们将开发物理模型，增强我们对这些过程的理解，从而为合成复杂目标产品的新材料的合理设计做出贡献。该计划开发的技术将有助于将二氧化碳转化为一种可再生的有价值的化学品来源。*总体而言，减少二氧化碳净排放的全球目标需要一种组合的方法：提高节能、能源效率，以及不仅减少当前二氧化碳排放速度，而且有可能实现净负排放过程的新技术。我们的工作旨在利用可再生电力将二氧化碳转化为有价值的产品。这可以提供一种合成产品的碳负方法，这些产品目前通常来自化石燃料。二氧化碳转化系统包括一个阳极、一个阴极和一个含有二氧化碳的电解液。阳极反应从水中生成O2，并为阴极反应提供电子和质子；这被称为放氧反应(OER)。在阴极，二氧化碳在二氧化碳还原反应(CO2RR)中转化为目标产物。我们的项目将专注于OER和CO2RR的新材料和系统的设计、合成和理解。我们采用计算模拟与实验合成和表征相结合的多学科方法来开发用于储能的OER和CO2RR材料的详细模型。*通过利用可再生电力合成碳基燃料，我们的工作解决了间歇性电源(如太阳能和风能)所面临的季节性储能问题。生产用于制造的可再生碳基原料将有助于加快我们向可持续经济的过渡。

This research program seeks to advance the electricity-driven conversion of CO2 into carbon-based fuels and feedstocks. We will develop systems that renewably synthesize chemicals, such as ethylene - processes that today rely on fossil fuel sources. We will develop physical models that enhance our understanding of these processes, contributing thereby to enabling rational design of new materials for the synthesis of complex target products. The technology developed by this program will help to enable the transformation of CO2 into a renewable source of valuable chemicals.******Overall, the global goal of reduction net CO2 emissions requires a combination approach: improved conservation, energy efficiency, and new technologies that not only curtail the current rate of carbon dioxide emissions, but that have the potential for net-negative emission processes. Our work seeks to contribute to the conversion of CO2 to valuable products using renewable electricity. This can offer a carbon-negative method of synthesizing products that today are conventionally derived from fossil fuels.******A CO2 conversion system includes an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte solution containing CO2. The anodic reaction forms O2 from water and provides electrons and protons for the cathodic reaction; this is known as the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). At the cathode, CO2 is converted to the target product in the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). Our program will focus on the design, synthesis, and understanding of new materials and systems for both OER and CO2RR. We take a multidisciplinary approach combining computational modeling with experimental synthesis and characterization to develop detailed models of both OER and CO2RR materials for energy storage.******By enabling the synthesis of carbon based fuels using renewable electricity, our work addresses the problem of seasonal energy storage faced by intermittent electricity sources such as solar and wind. Generation of renewable, carbon-based feedstocks for manufacturing will help accelerate our transition to a sustainable economy.