Project Portugal 2030

Summary

CHALLENGES The integration of CO2 capture and conversion (iCCC) technologies in biogas upgrading towards further CH4 production presents the potential for energy and cost savings. Developing efficient and durable materials that can work on both adsorption and conversion relies on addressing some challenges, including identifying optimal textural properties and metal-functionalities combinations and comprehending the impact of CH4 and other contaminants on this process. SOLUTION Overall, the project aims to bridge the knowledge gap in designing self-stand CO2-DFMs as a disruptive technology for iCCC (cf., Description section), contribute to the circular economy, and advance the development of sustainable and efficient technologies for CO2 conversion specifically to CH4 in biogas upgrading applications. The solution entails the design of novel DFMs with dual adsorptive and catalytic components i) biochar/metal composites and ii) periodic mesoporous carbons/metal composites (for further details see T2 and T7 and Scheme 2 in Annex), facilitating efficient CO2 capture (T3) and conversion to CH4 (T4) during the biogas upgrading process. OBJECTIVES AND ORIGINALITY The project objectives will be achieved by applying a multidisciplinary approach combining various disciplines such as material science, physics, chemistry, and engineering. The project includes the following objectives (O) connected to the following original elements (OE): O1) Designing effective DFM: OE1) The project aims to develop sustainable synthetic procedures to produce novel DFM, based on the preparation of porous carbon/metal composites with different textural properties, such different pore size, volume, and periodicity, specific surface area, and different types/content of heteroatoms and metal species (T2). These composites, which include biochar/metal and periodic mesoporous carbons/metal materials, will contain specific atoms (e.g., N and F) that can interact with CO2 molecules and combine earth-abundant metals (e.g., Cu, Zn, Co) to enable the efficient conversion of CO2 into CH4 with a high Faradaic efficiency (FE > 80%, T2-4); O2) Unraveling the structure-property relationships in CO2- CharM sorbents/catalyst: OE2) The project will utilize in-situ and operando techniques such as TGA-IR, TEM, XPS, and liquid and solid-state NMR, which combined with computational modeling studies will provide relevant information about the interactions between CO2 and the DFMs (T5-6). These investigations will help identify the ideal properties required for the effective separation of CO2 and CH4, as well as enhance the understanding of the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction process to produce CH4, an unexplored subject; O3) Long-term testing of CO2-DFMs composites: OE3) The best-performing CO2-DFMs will undergo extensive testing in long-term experiments using competitive CO2/CH4 mixtures (T4). This testing will increase the applicability of the composites in biogas upgrading and CH4 production processes; O4) Development of self-standing adsorbent/catalysts: (OE4) The project will focus on developing approaches to create self-standing adsorbent/catalysts employing additive manufacturing technologies (T7). This innovative approach aims to eliminate the need for powders, offering practical advantages in terms of handling and implementation.