Anagrafe della ricerca

As a major contributor to the global CO2 emissions, the commodity chemical industry should be urgently coupled with renewable electricity to become independent from fossil fuel resources. ECOLEFINS aims to establish a new, all-electric paradigm for the electroconversion of CO2 and H2O to light olefins, the key-intermediates for polymers and other daily life chemical products. The proposed concept eliminates light olefins related CO2 emissions and moreover captures and valorizes additional CO2. To achieve this, we will introduce planar and tubular co-ionic ceramic membrane reactors and short-stacks/modules that merge the anodic steam electrolysis for hydrogen production with the cathodic CO2 hydrogenation to light olefins, over tailored and nano-engineered electrodes. ECOLEFINS aims to develop a breaking-through, substantially more effective and energy efficient technology, for the single-step, RESpowered artificial photosynthesis of CO2 to valuable chemicals. To this end, the project’s ambition is to prove the feasibility of tailored, moderate temperature co-ionic Electrochemical Membrane Reactos (ci-EMRs) for the simultaneous H2O/CO2 co-electrolysis (steam at anode and CO2 at cathode) and CO2 electro-hydrogenation to light olefins. This ambition entails a multi-disciplinary task, requiring highly tuned synergies among cutting edge research in the fields of: i) advanced materials science & engineering for coionic cer-cer composites, perovskite ex-solutions, MOF and COF incorporated catalysts, ii) electrochemistry and electrochemical process engineering, iii) catalysis science and engineering, iv) computer aided materials design and atomic scale modelling, and v) digital real-scale process modelling and economic evaluation, along with a comprehensive sustainability assessment, applied social research for impact framing, and marketization planning.