Upgrade to a Thermogravimetric Analyzer with a Mass Spectrometer for a Comprehensive Research & Development Program in GHG Reduction Technologies

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This proposal is requesting a Mass Spectrometer (MS) to be connected with our existing gravimetric analyzer (TGA) with the core purpose of quantitatively measuring evolved gas composition during CO2 capture and conversion processes. Industry cash contribution has provided additional fund to acquire TGA-MS transfer line. Most of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cause climate change are associated with the burning of fossil fuels. Over the next few decades, capturing CO2 and converting it to value-added chemicals could become a significant method for mitigating climate change. Despite international efforts, there remain many unanswered questions and uncertainties regarding the optimum method to capture and conversion technologies. Three research programs will use the requested TGA-MS to investigate the development of novel materials that can potentially make major advances in the development of viable carbon capture, conversion, and biomass valorization technologies. In addition, three co-applicants and two collaborators will benefit from this equipment to achieve some of their research objectives in electro-catalytic and photocatalytic energy transformation processes and Biomass conversion to renewable biofuels. The currently used stand-alone TGA which records the weight change with time does not offer insights into the nature of the products formed. This, in turn, renders our material evaluation incomprehensive because, the product distribution is a significant performance indicator for the optimum design of materials and processes. A critical value of the requested equipment is the ability to measure evolved gas compositions in addition to the weight loss data simultaneously obtained from the TGA results. Indeed, this is crucial to thoroughly study the material performance, and reaction mechanism of the engineered novel materials in our different research applications. Lack of the evolved gas composition analysis is realized as a shortcoming in materials evaluation. The research programs supported by the requested equipment are centered on the advanced training and education of Highly Qualified Personnel, HQPs (16 PhD students, 5 MSc students, 2 postdocs, and 2 research assistants). The TGA-MS hyphenated technology offers a broader training opportunity compared to each individual technique as the effectiveness and the quality of data greatly increases. The gained knowledge will be very crucial to make breakthrough and major advances in the development of viable GHG reduction technologies as well as biomass conversion processes. It is anticipated that the innovative knowledge and novel materials generated from the combination of TGA-MS will be readily transferable for commercialization, thereby facilitating environmentally friendly energy production. The development of carbon capture and conversion technologies will be of special benefit to Canada, establishing it as a pioneer in CO2 emission reductions on a global scale.