Grant: Alliance Grants

Carbon monoxide (CO) is used for a wide range of industrial applications, including metal fabrication, chemical synthesis, the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, and as a fuel. CO is commercially produced at industrial scales by using natural gas, coal, or coke. The electrosynthesis of CO using renewable electricity and carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from the atmosphere offers a path to avoiding the use of fossil fuels and associated emissions. Approaches to-date have largely focused on converting pure CO2 to CO. In practice, this source CO2 could be captured from the atmosphere through direct air capture (DAC). The removal of atmospheric CO2 via technologies such as DAC is expected to play a key role in transitioning to a net zero energy system. Both these steps -CO2 capture and CO2-to-CO conversion- incur energy costs. Here, we have partnered with Shell to develop a combined reactive capture approach, where we will electrochemically upgrade CO2 into CO directly from model air capture fluids, with higher CO2 utilization and lower energy requirements compared to traditional separate CO2 extraction and upgrading systems.