Funded Projects

The proposed project will develop a low-cost hydrogen purification and CO2 utilization system integrating membranes with superior CO2/H2 separation properties and electrochemical hydrogen pump (EHP) to produce high-purity and high-pressure hydrogen and reduce CO2 to chemicals while avoiding CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Our core technical activities will combine four key innovations to overcome current limitations: (1) advanced membranes based on deep eutectic solvents that offer high CO2 permeability and high CO2/H2 selectivity; (2) highly active electrocatalysts at anode and cathode for selective chemical production; (3) determine anion exchange membranes for gas crossover; and (4) integrated EHP and CO2 reduction electrolyzer capable of operating together during steady-state and transients associated with startup and shutdown operations. Our processes are expected to achieve improved energy-efficiency compared with state-of-the-art technologies for CO2 utilization and should be able to attract interest from NSF & DOE. A team of three research groups with complementary skills has been assembled to achieve the goal. PI Nirupam Aich at CSEE with experience of deep eutectic solvents will lead the effort. He will be assisted by co-PI Haiqing Lin at CBE with experience in designing membranes with controlled molecular transport, and co-PI Gang Wu at CBE with extensive expertise of fuel cells and electrocatalysts in designing and synthesizing highly active and selective CO2 reduction catalysts for efficient chemical production. This proposal meets the requirement for the first type of the Coins for Funding a Collaborative Trio (cT). The proposed project includes three coin-holders from two different departments (CSEE and CBE) and is different from participants’ externally funded projects. This is the first time for the three PIs to collaborate together. We also confirm that each coin-holder has at least one active award in which we have 20% credit.