Understanding and Improving Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Capture

This transformative research fellowship will advance electrochemical carbon dioxide capture as a greenhouse gas mitigation technology.

To limit global warming to 1.5C and avoid catastrophic climate change we must greatly reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases. To this end the UK has recently committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050. Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is a critical technology that must be deployed at scale if the UK is to meet this goal. CCS is a process where carbon dioxide is first captured at point sources (industrial processes, fossil fuel power) or directly from the atmosphere, before subsequently being stored underground.

State of the art CCS technology uses amine molecules to absorb carbon dioxide. Subsequently a large amount of energy must be supplied in the form of heat (or a vacuum) to regenerate the amines and release pure carbon dioxide for storage, thereby increasing the cost of CCS. The amine process also suffers from (i) limited carbon dioxide capacities, (ii) amine evaporation into the atmosphere and (iii) amine degradation in the presence of oxygen and other contaminant gases.

This programme will explore the use of electricity to capture and release carbon dioxide as a more energy-efficient method of CCS that can overcome the limitations of amines. In electrochemical carbon dioxide capture, the charging of an energy storage device such as a battery or a supercapacitor causes the selective absorption of carbon dioxide. When the device is discharged, pure carbon dioxide is released (for subsequent storage), and much of the energy supplied during charging is recovered. Initial work suggests that this technology may be more energy-efficient than existing approaches, and there is still vast room for improvement, especially if the molecular mechanisms of capture can be understood and manipulated.

We will (i) advance the understanding of electrochemical carbon dioxide capture and (ii) discover new materials and devices that capture carbon dioxide more efficiently. Specifically we will focus on electrochemical carbon dioxide capture by (i) supercapacitors and (ii) batteries. We will measure the amount of carbon dioxide that can be captured by these devices and we will vary the structures of the materials used to guide their improvement.

A proper understanding of the molecular mechanism of electrochemical carbon dioxide capture may lead to breakthroughs for this technology. A key thrust of the programme is therefore mechanistic studies of the molecular-level capture mechanism. We will use a suite of experimental techniques to study the chemical structures of the electrode materials, and we will correlate these structures with their carbon capture properties. We will develop nuclear magnetic resonance studies that allow the molecular form of the bound carbon dioxide to be determined at different stages of the capture process.

Our mechanistic studies will inform the design and synthesis of improved materials for electrochemical carbon dioxide capture. We will synthesise the next generation of materials with (i) larger carbon dioxide uptake capacities, (ii) lower energy requirements for regeneration and (iii) faster uptake rates. New technology generated by this work will be prototyped and developed into new products. The developed technology will generate clean economic growth and will help the UK meet its 2050 net-zero emissions target. The research background of ACF combined with the assembled team of partners and excellent institutional support will lead to new knowledge and technology that will make the UK world-leading in electrochemical carbon dioxide capture.

The possible impacts of this fellowship include:
1. The discovery of transformative new carbon capture technologies that are more energy-efficient than existing approaches.

2. The deployment of these new technologies in the UK and abroad for carbon dioxide emissions mitigation, which will contribute to tackling global climate change.

3. The development of the first detailed molecular-level understanding of the chemistry of electrochemical carbon dioxide capture.

4. An improved public understanding and acceptance of carbon capture technologies.

This fellowship is expected to lead to new materials and devices for energy-efficient electrochemical carbon dioxide capture. The industrial application of this technology, and the development of new knowledge on electrochemical carbon dioxide capture, will benefit a large number of groups including:

(i) The wider public. Climate change has direct implications for the general public that include increased extreme weather events and flooding, sea level rise, scarcity of water and food, and economic recession. The Committee on Climate Change stress that carbon capture and storage is a necessity and not an option as the UK aims for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Our technology can therefore help the UK to meet its net-zero goal and can further influence the ambition of other countries. Together these efforts will help to limit global climate change and will greatly improve the lives of the general public. The public will further benefit via the creation of new jobs through the businesses mentioned below. Finally, they will further benefit from obtaining an increased understanding of carbon capture technologies through outreach activities.

(ii) Businesses. Existing businesses and new businesses that would be involved in the prototyping, scaling, manufacture, distribution and operation of this technology will benefit from this fellowship. Improved carbon capture technology offers clean economic growth and would provide these companies with new sources of sustainable revenue. In the UK alone carbon capture and storage may amount to a £5B market by 2050, highlighting the massive opportunities for clean growth in this area. Our new carbon capture technologies can help the UK to become an international leader in this emerging area of low carbon technology.

(iii) Academia in the UK. Through the development of new techniques, new knowledge on electrochemical carbon dioxide capture, and new research collaborations, the UK can become leaders in this emerging field. This improved reputation will benefit universities and academics in the UK and will help us to attract large scale funding from international sources, including from climate-focussed philanthropists, overseas research councils and multinational companies. At a more local level, this fellowship will lead to the training of multiple post-doctoral research fellows, and will establish Dr Forse as an international leader on carbon capture technologies. Undergraduate students will further benefit as Dr Forse will incorporate new material on carbon dioxide capture into his upcoming lectures on materials chemistry.