{"id":144522,"date":"2024-05-27T07:20:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=144522"},"modified":"2024-05-21T12:44:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T10:44:48","slug":"new-technique-by-nus-scientists-to-transform-waste-carbon-dioxide-into-high-value-chemicals-achieves-cost-reduction-of-about-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/new-technique-by-nus-scientists-to-transform-waste-carbon-dioxide-into-high-value-chemicals-achieves-cost-reduction-of-about-30\/","title":{"rendered":"New technique by NUS scientists to transform waste carbon dioxide into high-value chemicals achieves cost reduction of about 30%"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\"Asst
Asst Prof Lum Yanwei (centre), Dr Wang Bingqing (left), and Mr Wang Meng (right) from NUS Dept of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering have developed an energy-efficient, cost-effective way to convert carbon dioxide from flue gas into value-added chemicals and fuels. \u00a9 NUS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Addressing the urgent challenge posed by escalating carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) emissions and their impact on climate change, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a novel technique that significantly advances the conversion of waste carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) into value-added chemicals and fuels.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Led by Assistant Professor Lum Yanwei from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering<\/a> under the NUS College of Design and Engineering<\/a>, the research team\u2019s innovation enables the direct conversion of CO2<\/sub> from treated flue gas, a common by-product of industrial processes, into high-value multi-carbon (C2+<\/sub>) products such as ethylene and ethanol, essential raw materials for the production of various everyday compounds such as plastics, polymers and detergents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This advancement not only circumvents the need for high-purity CO2<\/sub> but also efficiently repurposes a prevalent waste product, marking a stride towards closing the carbon cycle and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marrying catalyst design with electrolyte selection <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage is a fundamental process to a sustainable future, relying on a suite of technologies among which the electrochemical reduction of CO2<\/sub> is vital. The process, which transforms CO2<\/sub> into a range of valuable feedstocks for chemicals and fuels, traditionally demands high-purity CO2<\/sub>, leading to significant costs due to the energy-intensive purification of the compound from sources like flue gases. Furthermore, the presence of oxygen impurities in flue gas results in undesired side reactions, which significantly reduces the efficiency of the CO2<\/sub> reduction process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The NUS team designed a nickel-based composite catalyst (extreme left) that facilitates the direct conversion of carbon dioxide from flue gas into multi-carbon products with remarkable efficiency. \u00a9 NUS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Asst Prof Lum\u2019s team aimed to sidestep these challenges by integrating catalyst design with electrolyte selection. In their recent study which was published in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Communications<\/em><\/a> on 26 February 2024, the researchers first introduced a new method to design catalysts with greatly enhanced efficiencies for the electrochemical conversion of CO2<\/sub>. Utilising this approach, they designed a nickel catalyst boasting exceptional performance for CO2<\/sub> reduction, achieving an impressive efficiency rate exceeding 99 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another study that builds on the aforementioned one, the NUS team designed a composite system by sequentially layering this nickel catalyst onto a copper surface. \u201cWe found that integrating acidic electrolytes with this composite system significantly suppresses the undesired side reactions from oxygen impurities in flue gas,\u201d explained Asst Prof Lum. Impressively, this system demonstrated comparable performance with systems that utilise pure CO2<\/sub> as feedstock. The second study was published in the same journal<\/a> on 9 February 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Asst Prof Lum<\/strong> highlighted the potential economic impact of their research, \u201cThe cost of purifying CO2<\/sub> can amount to about USD 70 to 100 per ton, which can constitute about 30 per cent of the costs involved in converting CO2<\/sub> to feedstocks such as ethylene through electrochemical means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur novel technique demonstrates a potential pathway for the development of efficient electrolysers for the direct conversion of CO2<\/sub> in flue gas, using simple yet effective electrolyte and catalyst design strategies to advance integrated sustainability solutions,\u201d added Asst Prof Lum<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The research team aims to enhance the energy efficiency and scalability of their innovative system, a necessary step to advance the technology for industry application. \u00a9 NUS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Scaling up for large-scale applications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The potential implications of this research extend beyond the production of ethylene and ethanol. By adjusting the catalyst system, the researchers\u2019 t echnique could be applied to synthesise other valuable chemicals, such as acetate and propanol which are used in the production of everyday products such as adhesives and disinfectants respectively. This versatility offers a broad platform for converting waste CO2<\/sub> into a diverse range of chemicals, underscoring the technique\u2019s adaptability to different industrial needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe are seeing strong interest from the industry and are currently in talks with some companies to further advance this research,\u201d said Asst Prof Lum<\/strong>. \u201cOur goal is to enhance the energy efficiency and scalability of our system, moving beyond laboratory-scale experiments towards developing prototype reactors that can be applied in industrial settings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Addressing the urgent challenge posed by escalating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their impact on climate change, researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a novel technique that significantly advances the conversion of waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added chemicals and fuels. Led by Assistant Professor Lum Yanwei from the Department of Chemical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"An energy-efficient, cost-effective way to convert the greenhouse gas into a wide range of chemical feedstocks","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[6843,5714,10744,10416,10743],"supplier":[5327],"class_list":["post-144522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-biochemicals","tag-biofuels","tag-carboncapture","tag-circulareconomy","tag-useco2","supplier-national-university-of-singapore"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144522"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=144522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}