Viable Electrochemical System for Sustainable Fuel and Chemical Production

加拿大80%以上的温室气体排放与能源有关。最需要发展的是实现可持续能源，以及在过渡期间利用二氧化碳。这项研究计划针对这两个领域；它提供了一个独特的研究环境，在这个环境中解决从二氧化碳和生物质废物可再生生产燃料和化学原料方面的关键应用和根本挑战。 在高发电量和低需求期间，加拿大过量的绿色电力，例如水力发电，为储能方法提供了机会。电化学二氧化碳还原反应(CO2RR)有望将电能转化为燃料，缓解二氧化碳排放，从而解决能源危机和全球变暖问题。该电化学体系包括一个被称为阴极的电子供给侧，它通过CO2RR还原二氧化碳，以及一个被称为阳极的电子受体侧，其中析氧反应(OER)是最方便的反应。然而，OER需要非常高的应用电势，并且产生的氧气不是一种有价值的原料。CO2RR系统阴极产物选择性低，阳极电位大，大大降低了系统的能量转换效率。因此，开发活性电催化剂是提高电催化性能的关键。此外，还需要很大的努力来降低阳极侧的施加电势。 该计划旨在开发纳米材料和新型电化学系统，以提高CO2RR系统的能效，并为生物质的有价化提供一条绿色途径。它将用高效的生物质废物氧化反应(BWOR)取代OER，降低电池电位，产生比氧气更有价值的化学品。这项技术将把二氧化碳转化为乙醇和丙醇等碳氢化合物，并将黑液和木质素等低质量生物质废物升级为增值化学品。今天，这些过程依赖于化石燃料来源，具有显著的碳足迹和对环境的负面影响。 这一多学科计划将基于密度泛函理论(DFT)计算开发准确的分子水平模型，通过现场光谱测量(如拉曼光谱)增强对催化反应的理解。这将有助于合理设计具有靶向性的电催化纳米材料。此外，它还将利用机器学习(ML)来加速发现具有优异催化活性和选择性的材料。通过这项计划，将开发一种新的商业上可行的电化学系统，其成分和反应条件经过优化，可以在低应用电位下同时适应CO2RR和BWOR。 这项技术将是朝着实际实现CO2RR和生物质废物升级迈出的一步，并将加快我们向可持续环境和经济的过渡。

More than 80 per-cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada is energy-related. Development is most needed to enable sustainable energy sources, as well as utilize CO2 in the interim. This research program targets both of these areas; it enables a unique research environment within which to address critical applied and fundamental challenges in renewably production of fuels and chemical feedstocks from carbon dioxide and biomass wastes. Excess green electricity in Canada, e.g. hydroelectricity, during periods of high generation and low demand presents the opportunity for energy storage methods. Electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) holds promise for electricity-conversion-into-fuels and CO2 mitigation, enabling thereby to address the issues of energy crisis and global warming. The electrochemical system includes an electron-donor side called cathode which reduces CO2 via the CO2RR, and an electron-acceptor side called anode in which the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the most convenient reaction. The OER, however, requires a very high applied potential and produces oxygen which is not a valuable feedstock. The low product selectivity in the cathode and huge potential required in the anode significantly decrease the energy conversion efficiency of the CO2RR system. Developing active electrocatalysts is thus paramount to improve the electrocatalytic performance. Moreover, significant effort is needed to decrease the applied potential in the anode side. This program seeks to develop nanomaterials and a novel electrochemical system to improve the energy efficiency in CO2RR systems, also to provide a green route for biomass valorization. It will replace the OER with efficient biomass waste oxidation reaction (BWOR) to decrease the cell potential and produce more valuable chemicals than oxygen. This technology will convert CO2 into hydrocarbons such as ethanol and propanol, and upgrade low quality biomass wastes such as black liquor and lignin to value-added chemicals. These processes, today, rely on fossil fuel sources with significant carbon footprint and negative environmental impacts. This multidisciplinary program will develop accurate molecular-level models based on the density functional theory (DFT) computations that with in-situ spectroscopic measurements such as Raman enhance the understanding of the catalytic reactions. It will contribute thereby to enabling rational design of targeted electrocatalytic nanomaterials. In addition, it will employ machine learning (ML) to accelerate the discovery of materials with superior catalytic activity and selectivity. Through this program, a new commercially viable electrochemical system with optimized components and reaction conditions will be developed to accommodate both CO2RR and BWOR at a low applied potential. This technology will be a step toward practical realization of CO2RR and biomass waste upgrading and will accelerate our transition to a sustainable environment and economy.