CO₂ Reduction

Electroreduction of carbon dioxide on transition metal oxide catalysts

AFFILIATION

University of Iceland

INVENTORS

Professor Egill Skúlason

Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science

IP STATUS

Patent pending

Title: Electroreduction of carbon dioxide on transition metal oxide catalysts

Int. Publication number: WO2019197527A1

Priority date: 11 April 2018

“This invention makes it possible to produce high-value products from carbon dioxide under various conditions, including at ambient room temperature and atmospheric pressure.”

An important measure to lower the CO2 content of the atmosphere is to convert it back to fuel or other chemicals. To pursue this goal, a novel catalyst that operates at ambient conditions and electrochemically reduces CO2 to high value add products is the key technology. The currently used pure metal catalyst CU is not efficient enough for commercial application due to the fact that it requires a large overpotential and it also produces 15 different carbon containing products as well as H" gas and the seperation of these products is costly. Also, methane and ethylene are the major products when Cu is used as a catalyst, but methanol is only produced in trance amount. Methanol would, however, be more useful to use as transportation fuel and would fit perfectly with the current infrastructure and technology.

The current invention predicts that certain transition metal oxides are good catalysts for the production of methanol and other for the production of formic acid.

ADVANTAGES & STRENGTHS

• Less need for high overpotential compared to Cu and thus less electricity needed for production
• Operates at ambient conditions
• More selective towards methanol formation than pure metal catalysts such as Cu
• The reduction of CO2 can be geared towards a desired product or mix of products by selecting the appropriate catalyst surfaces and/or adjusting the applied voltage
• Less need for costly separation of different products
• Provides important advances in carbon neutral energy technology
• Methanol can be used in current transportation system without major investments in new technologies
• Provides important advance in the development of technologies that can reduce C02 levels in the atmosphere

KEYWORDS

Carbon dioxide, CO2 reduction, catalysts, transition metal dioxide, density functional theory, electrochemistry, electrolytic cell, formic acid, hydrogen, hydrogen production, methanol, physical chemistry, process chemistry, fuel production.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

“Trends of Electrochemical CO2 Reduction Reaction on Transitional Metal Oxide Catalysts” Ebrahim Tayyebi, Javed Hussain, Younes Abghoui, and Egill Skúlason

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 122 (2018), 10078-10087
DOI: 10.1021/abc.jpcc.8b02224

“Calculations of Product Selectivity in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction”
Javed Hussain, Hannes Jónsson, and Egill Skúlason

ACS Catalysis, 8 (2018), 5240-5249

DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.7b03308

COLLABORATION