Zishuai Zhang is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada. On January 6, a paper entitled "Porous metal electrodes enableefficient electrolysis of carbon capture solutions" was published in Energy & EnvironmentalScience as a work[1].
Figure | Related papers (Source: Energy & EnvironmentalScience)
The research background of this work is the application of carbon dioxide capture and conversion, which solves the previous problem of combining upstream carbon capture and downstream carbon utilization in this field. In general, carbon dioxide needs to be captured from the air first, and after capture, a high-energy purification process is required, such as adsorption-desorption, gas compression and other steps. Because the carbon dioxide in the air is very thin (~400ppm), after capture, it needs to be converted into a high concentration of CO gas for subsequent utilization or storage. There is a lot of energy loss in this process, and at the same time it requires high cost upfront investment and the purchase of some asset-heavy equipment.
Figure | Zhang Zishuai (Source: Zhang Zishuai)
The work uses a new, low-cost approach whereby after the co2 capture is completed, the catcher no longer releases high-purity carbon dioxide, simplifying the intermediate process and directly using the CO2 trap for subsequent reactions. Zhang Zishuai said that such a carbon capture-utilization process and its corresponding battery device will have a cost advantage in industrial applications.
A related paper was previously published by Cortez Prof. Curtis Berlinguette) group published in Joule in 2019, when the reported Faraday efficiency was only 37% at 100mAcm-2, after two years of research, the reported Faraday efficiency reached 95% at a current density of 100mAcm-2, and now the high level of gaseous carbon dioxide reactors achieved the same efficiency.
From the establishment of the project to the publication of this work, it took a long period of exploration. During this period, total Energies SE sponsored Zhang Zishuai's team. Since then, he has worked to improve product selectivity to the level of advanced gaseous carbon dioxide electrolyzers, as well as reducing the energy required for electrolyzers to make them industrially promising. The project's paper, first submitted in 2020, was only recently published after more than a year of peer review.
In summary, this paper mainly proposes an all-metal electrode, compared with the multi-layer carbon-based diffusion electrode system reported in other literature (widely used in gaseous CO electrolyzers), this electrode is very simple, and has higher stability, and has more industrial application prospects. The message of this paper to the academic community is that the existing carbon dioxide utilization technology and upstream carbon capture technology have not been organically combined, and the energy input required as a whole is too high, and it is necessary to continuously simplify this process in order to promote commercial applications. Referring to the research process, he said that most of the research groups use gaseous carbon dioxide for direct reduction when doing carbon dioxide reduction, and this technical solution has been very mature. However, in these similar studies, little consideration was given to working in conjunction with existing upstream catch-up advances.
Due to the many problems that had to be solved (mainly low selectivity), the team's technical performance was still far away from the mature gaseous carbon dioxide electrolyzer. Therefore, in the process of reviewing the manuscript and promoting the work, some scholars have encountered doubts and even denials. In the face of this skepticism and denial, the University of British Columbia team continued to improve the performance indicators of the technology, and finally achieved performance comparable to the mature gaseous carbon dioxide reduction technology.
He said that this technology has great prospects for development, and it has not been abandoned because of the lack of recognition from the academic community at the beginning. After two or three years, they finally perfected the system. This process made him feel that scientific development and progress always had to go through a process of initial skepticism to gradual acceptance.
According to Zhang Zishuai, his research group has cooperated with Carbon Engineering, a Canadian company, mainly to conduct research on air carbon capture and utilization. After optimizing the process, the former has applied for several patents. In the future, Zhang Zishuai's team intends to further commercialize the patent. Zhang Zishuai said that his team will have 5 to 6 papers in the follow-up, all of which will be done on the basis of this time.
According to reports, Zhang Zishuai studied at Dalian University of Technology as an undergraduate and studied chemical engineering. He later studied for a master's degree in chemical engineering at the University of British Columbia. He then went to McGill University in Canada to pursue a PhD, where he was awarded a national self-funded study abroad scholarship. Since 2019, he has returned to the University of British Columbia to do postdoctoral research in the Curtis P. Berlinguette research group.
In terms of scientific research, his research is oriented towards industrialization, while collaborating with technology companies such as Google. He has applied for four U.S. patents, two of which have been licensed to related companies for commercialization. And now he also intends to use his own technology to set up a start-up company.
He admits that he is currently considering two aspects. First, he hopes to get the company up in the summer of 2022. At the same time, he will also consider seeking teaching positions at relevant institutions. If he returns to China to join the company, he would like to explore and promote the transformation and industrialization of carbon dioxide processes.
"It's a neck-and-neck technology, and I hope to achieve a capacity of thousands or tens of thousands of tons per year in the early stages," he said. ”
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reference:
1.Porous metal electrodes enableefficient electrolysis of carbon capture solutions. Energy Environ. Sci, 2022,Advance Article. https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EE02608A