April 25, 2023
@
4:00 PM
–
5:00 PM
Jingguang Chen
Thayer Lindsley Professor
Dept. of Chemical Engineering
Columbia University
New York City, New York
Chemical Engineering Approaches for Catalytic Reduction of CO2
Converting CO2 to value-added chemicals and fuels is one of the most practical routes for reducing CO2 emissions while fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy sector in the near future. In this talk we will present several routes in catalytic CO2 conversion: (1) CO2 hydrogenation by thermocatalysis, (2) CO2 reduction by electrocatalysis, and (3) simultaneous upgrading of CO2 and shale gas. We will use these examples to highlight the importance of combining kinetic studies, in situ characterization and density functional theory calculations for the mechanistic understanding of CO2 conversion. We will use the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol as an example to illustrate challenges in achieving a net-reduction of CO2 by performing mass and energy balance analysis. We will also demonstrate proof-of-principle results of several promising catalytic reactions using tandem processes to convert CO2 and light alkanes to syngas, olefins, aromatics and oxygenates.