I-Corps: Electrochemical Platform for Chemical Synthesis from Carbon Monoxide

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是解决全球有效利用碳需求的开发技术。化石衍生化学品的生产每年产生超过15亿吨二氧化碳，占总排放量的15%。利用其他部门的废碳来生产这些相同的化学品具有双重效果，既可以大幅降低排放，又可以减少对石油和天然气的依赖。该I-Corps团队正在开发一种可扩展的电动化学合成设备，可以将废碳转化为各种化学产品，满足小规模专业和大批量生产的需求。目标化合物的年收入超过3500亿美元，是塑料、粘合剂、药品等的基础材料。I-Corps项目将加速以一氧化碳高转化率为中心的可扩展模块化电化学平台的商业开发。一氧化碳作为一种实用的起始材料，可以通过商业上可用的方法从排放的二氧化碳、生物废物甚至钢铁生产中获得。之前的实验室研究已经确定了有效和稳定生产大批量多碳化学品和功能化特种化合物的关键，使该技术广泛应用于一系列潜在客户。此阶段的重点是确定短期和长期产品/市场适合度，以指导技术开发优先级，并优化直接满足客户需求的化学产品。商业模式假设将不断测试和完善，从而产生一个经过验证的商业计划，该计划具有利用这一关键碳利用技术进行商业化学品生产的明确路径。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project will be the development technology that addresses a worldwide need for effective carbon utilization. Production of fossil-derived chemicals generates over 1.5 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually, comprising 15% of total emissions. Harnessing waste carbon from other sectors to generate these same chemicals has the dual effect of dramatically lowering emissions and reducing dependence on oil and natural gas. This I-Corps Team is developing a scalable, electrically driven chemical synthesis device that can transform waste carbon into a wide variety of chemical products, satisfying needs in both small-scale specialty and high-volume production. The targeted compounds represent over $350 billion in annual revenue and form the building blocks of plastics, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, and beyond.This I-Corps project will accelerate commercial development of a scalable, modular electrochemical platform centered around high-rate conversion of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide serves as a practical starting material, which can be derived from emitted carbon dioxide, biowaste, and even steel production through methods that are commercially available. Previous laboratory research has identified the keys for effective and stable production of both high-volume multi-carbon chemicals and functionalized specialty compounds, lending the technology broad reach to serve a range of potential customers. The focus at this stage is to identify short-term and long-term product/market fit to guide technical development priorities and optimize towards the chemical products that directly match customer needs. Business model assumptions will be continuously tested and refined, resulting in a validated business plan with a clear path to commercial chemical production with this critical piece of carbon utilization technology.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.