Electrosynthesis of Ethylene for the chemical industry

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This project brings together a multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Toronto, Queen's University, Canadian clean tech innovator Ionomr Innovations, and global industrial partner TotalEnergies to develop a scalable electrocatalytic process for the synthesis of low-carbon-footprint ethylene from carbon dioxide and renewable electricity. Ethylene is a widely used chemical feedstock that is the foundation for many consumer goods, including plastics, cosmetics, and textiles. Conventional ethylene synthesis emits large amounts of greenhouse gases. The electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 into chemical feedstocks offers a means to avoid emissions, displace fossil feedstocks, and utilize excess renewable electricity.This project builds upon an existing partnership between TotalEnergies and UofT in which the feasibility of this technology was demonstrated. However, there were still questions about how the technology could be scaled for commercial deployment and it was not clear which system design would be most promising. To address these challenges, we will focus on optimization at the component and integrated system level, with emphasis on advanced customization of the membrane at the centre of MEA cells. To enable this work we have partnered with Ionomr Innovations to develop membranes purpose-built for electrochemical CO2-to-ethylene conversion.In partnership with TotalEnergies and Ionomr Innovations, we will derisk this technology and position it for demonstration and in so doing develop a market for made-in-Canada membranes, and systems, purpose-built for electrochemical CO2-to-ethylene conversion.