Nano-structured Catalysts for CO2 Reduction to Fuels

Fossil fuels are society's major energy sources and the primary raw materials for the chemicals industry. However, there are significant concerns associated with their sustainability, depletion and cost. In particular, many of the UK's North Sea reserves will soon become uneconomic / depleted, so we need to find alternatives urgently. Furthermore, the combustion of fossil fuels, e.g. during energy conversion, releases carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. The UK is already committed to an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, but significantly greater reductions (85%) are likely to be necessary in order to prevent devastating climate change (>2 degree C increase in temperature). Energy conversion for electricity and transport is responsible for 74% of CO2 emissions; new sustainable energy sources are essential. These new energy sources must be CO2 neutral or, even better, CO2 depleting. One solution is to use carbon dioxide itself as the fuel and feedstock material. Our solution is to react CO2 with H2 or water, using chemical, photochemical or electrochemical catalysts, to produce liquid transport fuels, such as methanol. Flue gases from power stations and/or industrial process, such as metal/alloy manufacture, are major contributors to UK CO2 emissions and will be abundant sources of CO2 for the foreseeable future. Many other industrial emissions also contain considerable concentrations of CO2 including those derived from biological processes, e.g. fermentation. The hydrogen required will be produced by water electrolysis powered by solar or other renewable source of energy. The key economic issue lies in decreasing the energy required for the processes. We aim to achieve this via the development of new, highly active metal/metal oxide nano-structured catalysts, which offer superior performance due to their high surface areas, reduced loadings, low overpotentials and which can be synthesised controllably. We shall use three parallel, yet complementary, approaches to energise the process: direct chemical (thermal) hydrogenation, electrochemical and photochemical reductions of carbon dioxide and water.Our team comprises scientist, engineers and environmental policy researchers at Imperial College London and University College London. We have expertise in chemical catalysis, electrochemistry, photochemistry, reactor engineering, materials science, nanotechnology, sustainable chemistry and environmental science. We have a significant track record in the activation and use of carbon dioxide as a resource. The project will also involve collaborations with, and be support by, the Imperial College London Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), the Energy Futures Lab and the Grantham Institute for Climate Change.

The project aims to develop novel nanostructured catalysts to enable the reduction of carbon dioxide to produce carbon-based fuels, with chemical (H2), electrochemical or photonic (light) energy inputs. In effect, this is the reverse process to the combustion of fossil fuels and a mimic for natural CO2 activation in leaves (an 'artificial leaf' concept). There are three compelling societal driving forces (and potential impacts) for this research: 1) peak oil production, 2) renewable liquid transport fuels which are compatible with the current transportation grid from secure and inexpensive sources, and 3) the reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases. Our research will address these fundamental economic and environmental issues by developing low cost, scalable synthesis of renewable transportation fuels from carbon dioxide sequestered from flue gases. The project involves a cross disciplinary team working at Imperial College London and at University College London in the Departments of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and the Centre for Environmental Policy. We have expertise in areas including catalysis, materials science, analytical chemistry, reaction engineering, electrochemistry and photochemistry. It also involves a team of industrial project partners working in industries which both emit CO2 and produce catalysts, including E-on (an energy provider), Cemex (a cement manufacturer), Johnson Matthey (a supplier of precious metals and catalysts) and Millenium-cristal (supplier of photocatalysts). These specific industrial partners are clear beneficiaries of the proposed research; however, a range of other UK industries and companies are likely beneficiaries, including industries which emit carbon dioxide in significant quantities (for example power suppliers, steel or aluminium manufacturers), fuel companies and fuel users, in particular the automotive industry. These industries will benefit from both the specific scientific and technological project objectives and deliverables and also from the collaboration with the team at ICL/UCL and with one another. One of the most important objectives of the research is to evaluate the technological, economic and environmental impacts of various strategies for transforming carbon dioxide into fuels. This assessment will be of particular value to the industrial partners (and to a whole range of other corporations, government agencies, charities and other academics working in this field). In stage 1 of the proposal, the collaborating industrial partners have been limited to CO2 emitters (in significant quantities and concentrations) and producers of catalysts/photocatalysts, in-line with the key objectives of this stage of the proposal. However, for stage 2, we plan to expand the range of industrial partners to include a wider range of fuel suppliers and users. The project team have extensive experience of industrial collaboration, including with relevant potential industrial partners (fuel producers and users) for stage 2. The project management plans include bi-annual project meetings, a one day research symposia, between all the academic collaborators and the industrial partners. The work will also be disseminated by publication in peer reviewed academic journals, by presentations at international scientific and technical conferences and meetings and also by public engagement activities. The novelty of the research combined with a project scope means that the programme can be anticipated to yield a large number of new intellectual assets. These will be managed by the business development unit at Imperial College London and the Energy Futures lab.