MSGID: 1:317/3 645334f2   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    New catalyst transforms carbon dioxide into sustainable byproduct    
    The carbon capture method works by using carbon to make acetic acid    
      
     Date:   
         May 3, 2023   
     Source:   
         Northwestern University   
     Summary:   
         -Electrocatalyst achieves record-breaking selectivity toward   
         desired product, a key step in expanding production -Acetic acid,   
         found in vinegar, is traditionally extracted from fossil fuels   
         for use in paint and other product feedstock.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   The need to capture CO2 and transport it for permanent storage or   
   conversion into valued end uses is a national priority recently identified   
   in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to move toward net-zero greenhouse   
   gas emissions by 2050.   
      
   Now, Northwestern University researchers have worked with an international   
   team of collaborators to create acetic acid out of carbon monoxide derived   
   from captured carbon. The innovation, which uses a novel catalyst created   
   in the lab of professor Ted Sargent, could spur new interest in carbon   
   capture and storage.   
      
   "Carbon capture is feasible today from a technical point of view,   
   but not yet from an economic point of view," Sargent said. "By   
   using electrochemistry to convert captured carbon into products with   
   established markets, we provide new pathways to improving these economics,   
   as well as a more sustainable source for the industrial chemicals that we   
   still need."  The paper was published today (May 3) in the journal Nature.   
      
   Sargent, the paper's corresponding author, is Northwestern's Lynn Hopton   
   Davis and Greg Davis Professor of Chemistry at the Weinberg College of   
   Arts and Sciences and a professor of electrical and computer engineering   
   at the McCormick School of Engineering. His team has a track record of   
   using electrolyzers -- devices in which electricity drives a desired   
   chemical reaction forward -- to convert captured carbon into key   
   industrial chemicals, including ethylene and propanol.   
      
   Though acetic acid may be most familiar as the key component in household   
   vinegar, recent University of Toronto Ph.D. recipient Josh Wicks, one   
   of the paper's four co-lead authors, said this use accounts for only a   
   small proportion of what it's used for.   
      
   "Acetic acid in vinegar needs to come from biological sources via   
   fermentation because it's consumed by humans," Wicks said. "But about   
   90% of the acetic acid market is for feedstock in the manufacture of   
   paints, coatings, adhesives and other products. Production at this scale   
   is primarily derived from methanol, which comes from fossil fuels."   
   Lifecycle assessment databases showed the team that for every kilogram   
   of acetic acid produced from methanol, the process releases 1.6 kg of CO2.   
      
   Their alternative method takes place via a two-step process: first,   
   captured gaseous CO2 is passed through an electrolyzer, where it reacts   
   with water and electrons to form carbon monoxide (CO). Gaseous CO is then   
   passed through a second electrolyzer, where another catalyst transforms   
   it into various molecules containing two or more carbon atoms.   
      
   "A major challenge that we face is selectivity," Wicks said. "Most of   
   the catalysts used for this second step facilitate multiple simultaneous   
   reactions, which leads to a mix of different two-carbon products that   
   can be hard to separate and purify. What we tried to do here was set up   
   conditions that favor one product above all others."  Vinayak Dravid,   
   another senior author on the paper and the Abraham Harris Professor   
   of Materials Science and Engineering, is the founding director of the   
   Northwestern University Atomic and Nanoscale Characterization (NUANCE)   
   Center, which allowed the team to access diverse capabilities for atomic-   
   and electronic-scale measurements of materials.   
      
   "Modern research problems are complex and multifaceted and require   
   diverse yet integrated capabilities to analyze materials down to   
   the atomic scale," Dravid said. "Colleagues like Ted present us with   
   challenging problems that stimulate our creativity to develop novel   
   ideas and innovative characterization methods."  The team's analysis   
   showed that using a much lower proportion of copper (approximately 1%)   
   compared with previous catalysts would favor the production of just acetic   
   acid. It also showed that elevating the pressure to 10 atmospheres would   
   enable the team to achieve record-breaking efficiency.   
      
   In the paper, the team reports a faradic efficiency of 91%, meaning that   
   91 out of every 100 electrons pumped into the electrolyzers end up in   
   the desired product -- in this case, acetic acid.   
      
   "That's the highest faradic efficiency for any multi-carbon product at a   
   scalable current density we've seen reported," Wicks said. "For example,   
   catalysts targeting ethylene typically max out around 70% to 80%, so   
   we're significantly higher than that."  The new catalyst also appears   
   to be relatively stable: while the faradic efficiency of some catalysts   
   tend to degrade over time, the team showed that it remained at a high   
   level of 85% even after 820 hours of operation.   
      
   Wicks hopes that the elements that led to the team's success -- including   
   a novel target product, a slightly increased reaction pressure, and a   
   lower proportion of copper in the catalyst -- inspire other teams to   
   think outside the box.   
      
   "Some of these approaches go against the conventional wisdom in this   
   field, but we showed that they can work really well," he said. "At   
   some point, we're going to have to decarbonize all the elements of   
   chemical industry, so the more different pathways we have to useful   
   products, whether it's ethanol, propylene or acetic acid, the better."   
   The research was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (grant   
   number 2022YFC2106000, 2022YFA1505100 and 2020YFA0715000), the National   
   Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 11874164, 52006085,   
   BE3250011, 52127816, 51832004, 51972129 and 52272202) and the Innovation   
   Fund of Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics. Also supporting   
   is the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant numbers 2019TQ0104   
   and 2020M672343), the) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (grant number   
   WH220432516). The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council   
   of Canada (NSERC) Discovery program (grant number RGPIN-2017-06477)   
   and the Ontario Research Fund (grant number ORF-RE08-034) provided   
   funding. Finally, the Marsden Fund Council for Government funding   
   (grant number 21-UOA-237) and the Catalyst: Seeding General Grant (grant   
   number 22-UOA-031-CGS), managed by the Royal Society Te Ap?rangi funded   
   the research.   
      
   This work made use of the EPIC facility of Northwestern University's   
   NUANCE Center, which has received support from the SHyNE Resource (grant   
   number NSF ECCS-2025633), the IIN and Northwestern's MRSEC programme   
   (grant number NSF DMR-1720139).   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Matter_&_Energy   
                   # Organic_Chemistry # Graphene # Electronics #   
                   Nanotechnology   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Air_Quality # Global_Warming # Forest # Geochemistry   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Acid o Fossil_fuel o Fossil o Alcohol_fuel o Economic_growth   
             o Hurricane_Emily_(2005) o Citric_acid o Agriculture   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by Northwestern_University. Original   
   written by Win Reynolds. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Jian Jin, Joshua Wicks, Qiuhong Min, Jun Li, Yongfeng Hu, Jingyuan   
      Ma, Yu   
         Wang, Zheng Jiang, Yi Xu, Ruihu Lu, Gangzheng Si, Panagiotis   
         Papangelakis, Mohsen Shakouri, Qunfeng Xiao, Pengfei Ou, Xue Wang,   
         Zhu Chen, Wei Zhang, Kesong Yu, Jiayang Song, Xiaohang Jiang, Peng   
         Qiu, Yuanhao Lou, Dan Wu, Yu Mao, Adnan Ozden, Chundong Wang, Bao Yu   
         Xia, Xiaobing Hu, Vinayak P. Dravid, Yun-Mui Yiu, Tsun-Kong Sham,   
         Ziyun Wang, David Sinton, Liqiang Mai, Edward H. Sargent, Yuanjie   
         Pang. Constrained C2 adsorbate orientation enables CO-to-acetate   
         electroreduction. Nature, 2023; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05918-8   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230503121328.htm   
      
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