Description du projet :
Converting CO2 into valuable chemicals is a solution towards addressing the current energy and environmental challenges. Currently, CO2 recycling might be performed with thermochemical, biochemical, and photochemical reducing processes, however those are limited by their high cost, since high temperature and pressure are needed, and/or by slow kinetic processes, which limit their scalability and sustainability. CO2 electroreduction has been proposed to overcome these drawbacks since it can operate at normal pressure and room temperature. The generated products can be controlled by the catalyst type and applied potential. However, conventional synthesis process of catalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) often involves high temperature, long reaction time, and numerous synthesis steps. A breakthrough is crucial to address these limitations and enable their scalable and large production. Reactive Inkjet Printing (RIP) holds great promise as a fast and scalable synthesis process at ambient conditions. This study aims to develop and optimize a process for large scale manufacturing of non-noble metal catalysts for CO2RR, particularly NiFe, by RIP. They will be produced in situ on cathodes for Membrane Electrode assembly (MEA) reactors. This project is a collaboration between the iPrint institute of HEIA-FR specialized in inkjet printing and researchers on functional materials for electrochemical applications at HEI-VS in Sion.
NiFe catalysts are a promising electrocatalyst family for CO2RR. They have been shown to have high activity and selectivity to convert CO2 into CO. Ni and Fe, being naturally abundant elements, offer a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to existing catalysts that rely on noble metals like gold, silver, and palladium. RIP consists of printing metal precursors-based inks followed by a post-treatment to reduce them into the desired electrocatalysts. Compared to inkjet printing of nanoparticles-based catalyst inks, RIP inks have the unmatched advantage of being particle-free and therefore significantly cheaper and easier to print. Using inkjet as a deposition method comes with additional key benefits, it is easily scalable and production costs can be reduced by using minimal amounts of materials and high throughput. The control of the deposited droplet volume results in very homogeneous layers of catalysts. Different post-treatments, such as plasma, e-beam and xenon flash lamps, will be investigated to minimize production time and energy consumption compared to current methods such as calcination. Nitrogen doping and additional micro structuration by inkjet printing will be used to enhance the activity and selectivity of the catalyst, leading to higher production of valuable chemicals. The catalyst performances will be investigated by electrochemical tests (cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, etc.) an in MEA reactors to evaluate the CO2RR in terms of reaction efficiency, selectivity, and stability. In addition, physical characterization of the synthesized electrocatalysts will be performed by using XRD, XPS, TEM, EDX and others.
The developed cathodes could be relevant for CO2 conversion after post combustion captures from incinerators and can be tested in collaboration with existing partners. The proposed method for NiFe catalysts can be extended to other transition metals and reactions such as oxygen or nitrogen reduction reaction, resulting in follow-up projects for electrolyzers, fuel cells, etc.
Forschungsteam innerhalb von HES-SO:
Girard Hervé
, Grandgeorge Paul
, Wenger Raphaël
, Berthouzoz David
, Baer Edouard
, Mauron Muriel
, Soutrenon Mathieu
, Audriaz Stéphane
, Schneuwly Vincent
, Roubaty Fabrice
, Balestra Gioele
, Brodard Patricia
, Castens Vitanov Lucie
, Mabillard Alexandre
, Eltschinger Yannic
, Guinot Guillaume
, Chabert Ull Carlos
, Masserey Romain
, Oliveira Da Silva Wanderson
Partenaires académiques: VS - Institut Systèmes industriels; FR - EIA - Institut IPRINT
Durée du projet:
02.02.2024 - 04.08.2025
Montant global du projet: 110'000 CHF
Statut: Laufend
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