Microwave-assisted plasma synthesis of CO2 free hydrogen and graphene

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The long-term goal of this proposed international collaboration is solving one of Canada's most significant issues with moving to a net-zero CO2 economy, which is what to do with our vast fossil fuel resources. In order to reduce the effects of climate change, there needs to be a move away from fossil fuel hydrocarbons to net-zero fuels such as hydrogen. While hydrogen has great potential as its only emission is water, its current dominant manufacturing method creates significant CO2 emissions. Recent work has shown that a microwave plasma reactor can be used instead to produce CO2 free "green" hydrogen from fossil fuels by efficiently splitting carbon and hydrogen. The issue is that the formed carbon is simply a waste byproduct. In order to make this plasma process economically feasible, the produced carbon must be in the form of a high-value product such as graphene. Graphene is a super-material with exceptional mechanical, electrical, and optical properties, whose discoverer won the Noble Prize. This research collaboration will investigate microwave-assisted plasma synthesis of CO2 free "green" hydrogen and graphene. An initial objective of this proposed international collaboration is to gain insights into how and why different hydrocarbon precursors impact the formation of graphene in a microwave plasma reactor. In this research project, a novel graphene formation model will be developed and utilized to gain understanding into the effect of different hydrocarbons on graphene formation.