REU Site: CO2 Chemical Engineering: Opportunities and Challenges

全球能源消耗预计到2050年将翻一番，到本世纪初将翻三番。目前的二氧化碳排放，主要是由于我们使用化石燃料作为主要能源，正在迅速增加大气中二氧化碳的浓度。为了减缓并最终逆转大气中二氧化碳的积累，需要碳中性和可再生能源。这个夏季REU场地的主题是通过化学和电化学方法通过捕集、催化转化和减缓以及通过将生物质原料转化为燃料和化学品来减少和利用二氧化碳。该站点将为REU参与者提供这些领域的各种研究项目，使他们接触到工程师在应对二氧化碳排放增加挑战时面临的一系列技术挑战。除了研究之外，参与者还将在整个夏季参加专业发展研讨会。每年夏天，多达六名来自泰国的本科研究人员将与REU学生互动，生活和工作，从而加强研究和文化环境。在为期十周的暑期项目结束时，REU的学生将在全校范围内的海报会议和口头研究研讨会上展示他们的研究成果。南卡罗来纳大学化学工程系的这个REU场地的主题是“二氧化碳化学工程——机遇与挑战”，技术重点是二氧化碳的分离和捕获，化学转化为燃料和化学品，以及通过生物质转化来缓解。研究项目将针对化学工程本科学生，涉及10名学生为期10周的暑期项目。就知识价值而言，REU网站将利用我们在纳米科学，材料科学，多相催化，光谱学，电化学和数学建模方面的强大团队的专业知识，促进对新材料和工艺将在减少二氧化碳排放对我们星球的环境影响方面发挥作用的理解。REU的学生将参与尖端研究，包括先进的分离技术，二氧化碳捕获，以及二氧化碳和生物质到碳氢化合物燃料和化学品的化学转化。参与者还将参加专业发展讲习班，并在夏季结束时在海报会议和口头研究研讨会上介绍他们的研究。就更广泛的影响而言，我们国家以可持续的方式满足未来能源需求的能力将对我们继续繁荣的能力至关重要。推进科学知识和培养未来的劳动力来发明可持续的技术将是这一努力的中心。这个REU站点将培养和展示我们未来的科学领导者在可持续能源方面的进步，特别是纳米科学、催化和二氧化碳捕获和转化。专业发展努力将为REU学生提供非技术知识和经验，使他们能够将实验室的发现应用于社会。每年夏天，来自泰国的本科生研究人员将与REU学生互动，生活和工作，从而加强研究和文化环境。教育影响将由外部评估人员进行评估，该评估人员将进行形成性评估以评估项目实施的有效性，并进行总结性评估以评估项目目标的实现情况和学生的预期结果。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。

Global energy consumption is projected to double by 2050 and triple by the turn of the century. Current emissions of carbon dioxide, driven mostly by our use of fossil fuels as a primary energy source, are rapidly increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. In order to slow and ultimately reverse the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere, carbon-neutral and renewable energy sources are needed. The theme of this summer REU site revolves around the reduction and utilization of CO2 via capture, catalytic conversion, and mitigation through chemical and electrochemical methods, as well as through the conversion of biomass feedstock to fuels and chemicals. The site will provide the REU participants with a wide variety of research projects in these areas, exposing them to an array of technical challenges that engineers face when tackling the challenge of increasing CO2 emissions. In addition to research, participants will also engage in professional development workshops throughout the summer. The research and cultural environment will be enhanced by the inclusion of up to six undergraduate researchers from Thailand each summer, who will interact, live, and work with the REU students. At the end of the ten-week summer program, REU students will present their research in both a university-wide poster session and an oral research symposium.The theme of this REU site in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina is “CO2 Chemical Engineering – Opportunities and Challenges”, with a technical emphasis on CO2 separation and capture, chemical conversion to fuels and chemicals, and mitigation through biomass conversion. The research projects will be tailored towards chemical engineering undergraduate students, involving ten students for a ten-week summer program. In terms of intellectual merit, the REU site will leverage the expertise of our strong team in nanoscience, materials science, heterogeneous catalysis, spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and mathematical modeling to advance the understanding of the role that novel materials and processes will play in reducing the environmental impact of CO2 emissions on our planet. The REU students will participate in cutting-edge research, including advanced separation technologies, CO2 capture, and chemical conversion of CO2 and biomass to hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals. Participants will also engage in professional development workshops, and present their research in both a poster session and oral research symposium at the end of the summer. In terms of broader impacts, our nation’s ability to meet our future energy needs in a sustainable manner will be critical to our ability to continue to prosper. Advancing scientific knowledge and developing the future workforce to invent sustainable technologies will be at the center of this endeavor. This REU site will train and expose our future scientific leaders to advances in sustainable energy in general, and nanoscience, catalysis and CO2 capture and conversion in particular. Professional development efforts will provide the REU students with the non-technical knowledge and experience required to take discoveries out of the lab and place them into society. The research and cultural environment will be enhanced by the inclusion of undergraduate researchers from Thailand each summer, who will interact, live, and work with the REU students. The educational impact will be assessed by an external evaluator, who will perform a formative evaluation to assess the effectiveness of program implementation, and a summative evaluation to assess achievement of program goals and expected outcomes for students.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.