Electrochemical production of urea via pulsed electrosynthesis

电合成是一种新兴的可持续替代高二氧化碳排放热化学路线，以产生具有社会价值的燃料和化学品，可以利用可再生资源来驱动反应。在这种情况下，由小分子反应物（如CO2， NH3）电合成尿素是一种很有前途的方法来生成尿素，这种分子广泛应用于农业，材料，运输和医学。该领域的一个关键挑战是开发具有足够活性和选择性的尿素生产催化系统。在此背景下，本项目将以脉冲电催化为基础，开发一种高功能的尿素电合成系统。拟议的工作将通过整合机械研究、材料开发和反应堆工程来实现这一目标，以弥合实验室规模概念验证和工业相关性能之间的差距。该项目预计将在有需求的地区培养新一代HQP，并帮助魁北克和加拿大在可再生能源研究方面处于领先地位。此外，该项目将启动蒙特利尔大学、麦吉尔大学和皇后大学的研究人员之间的多学科合作。

Electrosynthesis is an emerging sustainable alternative to highly CO2-emitting thermochemical routes to generate societally valuable fuels and chemicals that can take advantage of renewable sources to drive the reactions.Within this context, the electrosynthesis of urea from small molecule reactants (e.g. CO2, NH3) is a promising route to generating urea, a molecule widely used in agriculture, materials, transport and medicine. A key challenge in this field is the development of catalytic systems with sufficient activity and selectivity for urea production. Against this backdrop, this project will build on the use of pulsed electrocatalysis to develop a highly functional urea electrosynthetic system. The proposed work will accomplish this by integrating mechanistic investigations, materials development, and reactor engineering to bridge the gap between lab scale proof-of-concept and industrially relevant performance. The project is expected to train a new generation of HQP in an in-demand area and help Quebec and Canada step into a leadership position in renewable energy research. Further, the project will initiate a multi-disciplinary collaboration between researchers in the University of Montreal, McGill University, and Queens University.