Paired Electrolyzers for Efficient Conversion of Furanic Compounds to Valuable Chemicals

目前，用于制造美国许多商业和工业产品的大多数商品和特种化学品都是以化石燃料原油和天然气为原料，使用热化学反应装置制造的。在美国的发电电网中，风能和太阳能提供的可再生电力迅速被采用；例如，爱荷华州34%的电力来自风力发电。这些可再生能源发电机也有望为化学工业脱碳提供能源。将可再生电力和可再生碳(生物质)相结合，用于电解反应堆中的分布式化学品生产，可以将可再生电子储存在有价值的有机物的化学键中，这是一种长期可储存的形式，从而满足了对电力弹性的迫切需求。然而，大多数商业化的有机物电合成只利用电解槽的两个电极中的一个来产生所需的产品。该项目旨在设计一种创新的流动电解槽，用于生物可再生原料的电催化加氢和氧化，以同时从阴极和阳极生产有价值的化学品，同时抑制价值较低的氢气和氧气副产品的释放。该项目提供的教育活动侧重于培训爱荷华州和中西部地区的大量学生，使他们掌握电化学和电化学工程的主题。研究成果将被纳入一门新开发的课程：电化学工程，以及面向不同本科生的独立研究项目。该团队还将参加爱荷华州立大学现有的教育和外展项目，每年夏天培训当地高中生。面向全球先进化学制造领域的竞争，培养新一代电化学系统领域的研究人员是我们的长远目标。这一基础工程科学研究项目涉及流动电解槽的设计，该电解槽在阴极和阳极对生物质原料的电催化加氢和氧化进行配对，同时抑制价值较低的氢气和氧气的释放。研究任务是：1)利用模型催化剂了解电化学转化的重要机理；2)准确合成先进的催化剂；3)合理设计高效电解槽，实现在常温、常压、温和pH的水溶液中连续生产有价值的呋喃类化学品和单体。该项目将以生物质原料分子呋喃和5-羟甲基呋喃(HMF)为模型，研究生物可再生呋喃类化合物的电催化加氢和氧化机理，并进一步了解催化剂组成和结构、电极电位和电解液pH在这些电化学转化中的作用。它还将为合理设计从阳极和阴极联产两种有价值的化学品的成对电解槽提供所需的知识，并开发将电分析方法与在线化学收集和分析相结合的新方法，以更好地了解和设计电解系统。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Currently, most of the commodity and specialty chemicals used to manufacture many of the nation’s commercial and industrial products are made with fossil fuel feedstocks of crude oil and natural gas using thermochemical reactors. In the nation’s electricity generation grid, renewable electricity from wind and sun has been quickly adopted; for example, Iowa generates 34% of its electricity from wind power. These renewable electricity generators are also promising for providing energy to decarbonize the chemical industry. Integration of renewable electricity and renewable carbon (biomass) for distributed production of chemicals in electrolytic reactors, can store renewable electrons in chemical bonds of valuable organics, the long-term storable form, thus addressing urgent needs for power resilience. However, most commercial electro-syntheses of organics only utilize one of the two electrodes of an electrolyzer for generation of desired products. This project aims to design an innovative flow electrolyzer for pairing electrocatalytic hydrogenation and oxidation of biorenewable feedstock to simultaneously produce valuable chemicals from both cathode and anode, while suppressing the evolution of less valuable byproducts of hydrogen and oxygen gases. Education activities offered by this project focus on training a large body of students across Iowa and the Midwest with electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering topics. Research outcomes will be incorporated into a newly developed course: Electrochemical Engineering, as well as independent research projects for diverse undergraduate students. The team will also participate in Iowa State University’s existing education and outreach programs to train local high school students each summer. The long-term education goal is to produce a new generation of researchers in the fields of electrochemical systems, facing the global competition in advanced chemical manufacturing. This fundamental engineering science research project addresses the design of flow electrolyzers that pair the electrocatalytic hydrogenation and oxidation of biomass-derived feedstock at the cathode and anode, while suppressing the evolution of less valuable hydrogen and oxygen gases. The research tasks are: 1) Understand important mechanisms of electrochemical transformations using model catalysts for 2) accurate synthesis of advanced catalysts, so as to 3) rationally design an efficient electrolysis cell to achieve continuous production of valuable furanic chemicals and monomers at ambient temperature, pressure, aqueous electrolyte with mild pH. The project will take as model biomass feedstock molecules furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF).The research will acquire new insights into the mechanisms of the electrocatalytic hydrogenation and oxidation of biorenewable furanic compounds, along with advanced understanding of the role of catalyst composition and structure, electrode potential, and electrolyte pH in these electrochemical transformations. It will also provide needed knowledge for rational design of paired electrolyzers for cogeneration of two valuable chemicals from both anode and cathode and develop new approaches for combining electroanalytic methods and online chemical collection and analysis for better understanding and design of electrolytic systems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.