IIT researchers develop electrolyzer that converts CO2 to propane

Researchers at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), with colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed an electrolyzer capable of converting carbon dioxide into propane in a manner that is both scalable and economically viable. A paper on the work is published in

Propane is a tri-carbon (C3) alkane widely used as a fuel. Despite recent advances in CO2 electrocatalysis, the production of C3+ molecules directly from CO2 is challenging due to high reaction barriers and competing reactions to C1, C2 and H2 products.

Here we report a catalytic system composed of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-functionalized Mo3P nanoparticles coated with an anion-exchange ionomer that produces propane from CO2 with a current density of −395 mA cm−2 and a Faradaic efficiency of 91% at −0.8 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode over 100 h in an electrolyser.

Our characterization and density functional theory calculations suggest that imidazolium functionalization improves the electrocatalytic properties of Mo atoms at the surface and favours the pathway towards propane by increasing the adsorption energies of carbon-based intermediates on the Mo sites. Our results indicate that the ionomer coating layer plays a crucial role in stabilizing the imidazolium-functionalized surface of Mo3P nanoparticles during long-term testing.

Illustration of electrolyzer, which uses a novel catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into propane. Source: IIT

To ensure a deep understanding of the catalyst’s operations, the team employed a combination of experimental and computational methods. This approach illuminated the crucial elements influencing the catalyst’s reaction activity, selectivity, and stability.

A distinctive feature of this technology, lending to its commercial viability, is the implementation of a flow electrolyzer. This design permits continuous propane production, sidestepping the pitfalls of the more conventional batch processing methods.

Resources

Esmaeilirad, M., Jiang, Z., Harzandi, A.M. et al. “Imidazolium-functionalized Mo3P nanoparticles with an ionomer coating for electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to propane.” Nat Energy doi: 10.1038/s41560-023-01314-8

Posted on 19 August 2023 in Carbon Capture and Conversion (CCC), Fuels, LPG, Market Background | Permalink | Comments (15)