Microwave-assisted plasma synthesis of CO2 free hydrogen and graphene

这项拟议中的国际合作的长期目标是解决加拿大转向净零二氧化碳经济的最重要问题之一，这就是如何利用我们丰富的化石燃料资源。为了减少气候变化的影响，需要从化石燃料碳氢化合物转向氢等净零燃料。虽然氢气具有巨大的潜力，因为它唯一的排放物是水，但它目前占主导地位的制造方法会产生大量的二氧化碳排放。最近的研究表明，通过有效地分解碳和氢，可以使用微波等离子体反应堆从化石燃料中生产不含二氧化碳的“绿色”氢气。问题是，形成的碳只是一种废物副产品。为了使这种等离子体工艺在经济上可行，所生产的碳必须是高价值产品的形式，如石墨烯。石墨烯是一种具有优异的机械、电学和光学性能的超级材料，其发现者获得了诺贝尔奖。这项研究合作将研究微波辅助等离子体合成不含二氧化碳的绿色氢气和石墨烯。这项拟议的国际合作的初步目标是深入了解不同的碳氢化合物前体如何以及为什么影响微波等离子体反应器中石墨烯的形成。在这项研究项目中，将开发一个新的石墨烯形成模型，并利用该模型来了解不同碳氢化合物对石墨烯形成的影响。

The long-term goal of this proposed international collaboration is solving one of Canada's most significant issues with moving to a net-zero CO2 economy, which is what to do with our vast fossil fuel resources. In order to reduce the effects of climate change, there needs to be a move away from fossil fuel hydrocarbons to net-zero fuels such as hydrogen. While hydrogen has great potential as its only emission is water, its current dominant manufacturing method creates significant CO2 emissions. Recent work has shown that a microwave plasma reactor can be used instead to produce CO2 free "green" hydrogen from fossil fuels by efficiently splitting carbon and hydrogen. The issue is that the formed carbon is simply a waste byproduct. In order to make this plasma process economically feasible, the produced carbon must be in the form of a high-value product such as graphene. Graphene is a super-material with exceptional mechanical, electrical, and optical properties, whose discoverer won the Noble Prize. This research collaboration will investigate microwave-assisted plasma synthesis of CO2 free "green" hydrogen and graphene. An initial objective of this proposed international collaboration is to gain insights into how and why different hydrocarbon precursors impact the formation of graphene in a microwave plasma reactor. In this research project, a novel graphene formation model will be developed and utilized to gain understanding into the effect of different hydrocarbons on graphene formation.