Greenhouse Gas to Fuels - Nanochemistry Solutions

加拿大与其他国家一起抓住机会，通过回收制造、运输和消费产生的废物，将其不可持续的消费经济转变为可持续的消费经济。我们的范例设想二氧化碳是一种原料和资产，而不是一种废物和负债，可以转化为合成燃料，实现碳中和碳循环。以太阳能燃料为例，该提案的重点是需要发现高活性光催化剂和开发高性能光反应器来实现这一过程。为了对气候变化产生有意义的影响，目标催化剂必须能够以工业实际规模和转化率从二氧化碳中合成燃料，同时保持长期性能稳定。此外，催化剂必须包含丰富的、低成本的、无毒的元素，具有高选择性和完全转化，以确保经济上可行和对环境无害的二氧化碳精炼厂。上述挑战激励并为我们的下一阶段研究奠定了基础，特别是发现和优化高性能纳米结构催化剂，用于太阳能驱动的二氧化碳非均相加氢合成燃料，如合成气、甲醇和碳氢化合物。特别是，在理想的压力、温度、气体组成和流量等反应器操作条件下，评估催化剂的活性、选择性、稳定性、表面化学、动力学和机理途径是至关重要的。有了这些知识，将有可能扩大性能最好的光催化剂的规模，使其能够开发实验室规模的示范装置，并最终实现将二氧化碳转化为合成燃料的中试规模工厂。我们的重点将是通过实验和计算方法发现下一代二氧化碳利用材料，并开发新的和改进的反应堆和工艺，以实现这些二氧化碳转化。我们的研究目标是使加拿大在创新、有竞争力的低碳技术的发现、开发和商业化方面处于世界领先地位。这将有助于加拿大在缓解全球变暖和气候变化的挑战中实现其温室气体减排目标。它将有助于创造加拿大工业，为可持续的未来生产加拿大制造的清洁技术。

Canada, together with other countries, has embraced the opportunity to transition its unsustainable consumer economy to a sustainable one by recycling waste generated from manufacturing, transportation, and consumption. Our paradigm envisions carbon dioxide as a feedstock and asset, rather than a waste product and liability, being convertible into synthetic fuels for a carbon neutral carbon cycle. In the case of solar fuels made from CO2 and H2O powered by sunlight, the focus of the proposal requires the discovery of highly active photocatalysts and the development of high performance photoreactors to enable the process. To meaningfully impact climate change, targeted catalysts must be able to make synthetic fuels from CO2 at industrially practical scales and rates of conversion, while maintaining long-term performance stability. In addition, the catalyst must comprise earth-abundant, low-cost, and non-toxic elements, with high selectivity and total conversion, to ensure economically viable and environmentally sound CO2 refineries. The aforementioned challenges motivated and set the stage for the next phase of our research, specifically, the discovery and optimization of high performance nanostructured catalysts for the solar-powered heterogeneous hydrogenation of CO2 to synthetic fuels, such as syngas, methanol and hydrocarbons. In particular, it is essential to evaluate the activity, selectivity, stability, surface chemistry, kinetics, and mechanistic pathways of catalysts under ideal reactor operating conditions of pressure, temperature, gas composition, and flow rate. With this knowledge, it will be possible to scale the top-performing photocatalysts to enable the development of lab-scale demonstration units, and ultimately, pilot-scale plants for the conversion of CO2 to synthetic fuels. Our focus will be on the discovery of next-generation CO2 utilization materials, through both experimental and computational methods, and the development of new and improved reactors and processes to enable these CO2 conversions. The objective of our research is to enable Canada to be a world leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative, competitive, low-carbon technologies. This will assist Canada meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in the challenge of ameliorating global warming and climate change. It will help create Canadian industries that can manufacture made-in-Canada clean technology for a sustainable future.