Sustainable Processing of Energy Materials from Waste

该项目旨在开发基于水热和微波处理的废物再制造新工艺，以产生可持续的产品，如先进的碳材料和化学品，这些产品反过来可以制造成电池装置。水热或微波转化废物将产生含有重要化学物质的液相，如乙酰丙酸（LA）和5-羟甲基糠醛（5-HMF）。这是一系列产品的平台中间体，包括溶剂和聚合物前体，药品，增塑剂和其他生物燃料。我们将使用制备色谱法将这些化学物质从水相中分离出来，并使用废物转化的固相产生的碳催化剂将它们转化为其他有用的产品。因此，这将关闭生物废物产品利用的循环。同时，我们还将利用固体碳材料制造锂离子电池和钠离子电池的负极材料。我们将在半电池和基于最佳性能材料的全电池中测试这些废物电极的性能。我们将评估制造这些产品在每个生命周期对环境的影响，与市场上其他产品相比，它们的成本，我们将执行多尺度建模，以预测这些工艺和产品升级的能力。我们提出的合作研究活动有可能减少环境污染，并找到新的创新方法将废物回收/再制造成先进材料。此外，从我们的过程中产生的生物燃料和电池将帮助英国实现减少温室气体排放和引入更多可再生能源的目标。该项目汇集了一支高素质的研究团队，包括英国的两家顶尖研究机构（QMUL和UCL）和中国的两家顶尖研究机构（清华大学和中国科学院），以及在水热和微波制造、多相催化、生物废物转化、碳材料和电池研究方面具有互补专长的研究人员。该项目将在英国培养两名PDRAs和两名博士生，他们将与中国的两名PDRAs密切互动。这笔赠款将确保中英之间长期合作的延续，将有助于防止两国的污染和浪费，并开发制造先进碳、化学品和电池的可持续技术。

This project aims at developing new processes for waste remanufacturing based on hydrothermal and microwave treatments to yield sustainable products such as advanced carbon materials and chemicals, which in turn could be manufactured into battery devices Hydrothermal or microwave conversion of waste will result in a liquid phase containing important chemicals such as levulinic acid (LA) and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (5-HMF), which are platform intermediates for a range of products including solvents and precursors of polymers, pharmaceuticals, plasticizers and other biofuels. We will separate these chemicals from the aqueous phase using preparative chromatography and convert them into other useful products using the carbon catalysts produced from the solid phase of the waste conversion. This will thus close the loop in biowaste product utilization.In parallel, we will also use the solid carbon materials to manufacture anode materials for Li and Na ion batteries. We will test the performance of these waste-derived electrodes in half- and, based on the best performant materials, full cells. We will evaluate the environmental impact of the manufacturing of these products at each life cycle, their cost compared with other products on the market, and we will perform multiscale modelling to predict the ability of these processes and products to be upscaled. Our proposed collaborative research activities have the potential to reduce environmental pollution and find new and innovative ways to recycle/remanufacture waste into advanced materials. In addition, the resulting biofuels and batteries from our processes will help the UK achieve its targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and introduce more renewables.A team of highly qualified researchers has been brought together for this project, including two top research institutions in the UK (QMUL and UCL) and two in China (Tsinghua and Chinese Academic of Science) and researchers with complementary expertise in hydrothermal and microwave manufacturing, heterogeneous catalysis, biowaste conversion, carbon materials and battery research. This project will train two PDRAs and two PhD students in the UK which will interact closely with two PDRAs in China. This grant will ensure the continuation of long lasting collaborations between the UK and China, will help prevent pollution and waste in both countries, and develop sustainable technologies for manufacturing advanced carbons, chemicals and batteries.