The SunCoChem project aimed to provide the chemical industry with an alternative to produce oxo-chemicals without using raw materials derived from carbon or oil. The project developed a photoelectrocatalytic tandem reactor to manufacture valuable chemical oxo-products from renewable energies based on CO2, H2O and solar energy.
This was achieved by process intensification, coupling a solar-driven CO2 reduction to CO/H2O oxidation to O2 with C-C bond carbonylation reaction catalysed by novel multifunctional hybrid photoelectrocatalysts.
Based on a CO2 capture and conversion architecture to design a self-sufficient device, SunCoChem’s innovation allows to reduce costs and CO2 emissions, decreasing the dependence of the European Chemical Industry on carbon-based raw materials.
Start date – 1 May 2020 End date – 31 October 2024
Project phases
Development of materials and components of the reactor cell
Synthesis and characterisation of new photocatalytic materials for the development of optimal photo-electrodes and development of new membranes for ions transport, CO2 capture and functional ILs.
Upscaling, testing and validation of the reactor device from TRL3 to TRL5
Manufacturing of the full size (1m2) reactor and the SunCoChem test bench plant. Testing for the 3 oxo-products of study with simulated and real feedstocks, for process optimisation and validation.
Integration and optimisation of materials and components
Integration of photoelectrodes and TBM in a MEA, and CO2 capture with ILs in the CO2 capture and concentration system. Design and construction of the first reactor module.
Socio-economic and environmental impact assessment
Risk assessment of the new process and materials was compared with current industrial processes, including risk for human health and risk for the environment. Finally, a social and economic impact based on cost analysis and social perception was also studied.
Sustainable oxo-products produced from CO2
Valuable chemicals from renewable energy sources and waste CO2 from industrial processes
SunCoChem was the first project at developing a self-biased photo-reactor to efficiently produce oxo-products from CO2, water and sunlight. This new technology produced three oxo-chemicals of interest for important chemical companies in Europe based on the use of CO2 as a renewable carbon source in comparison to actual routes based on the use of fossil fuels.
PROJECT CONCEPT
SunCoChem project aimed at exploiting a tandem photoelectrochemical CO2 conversion route to produce CO as a key intermediate for the in-situ CO-carbonylation of chemicals to produce oxo-products of the chemical industry.
Advance beyond the state of the art
SunCoChem addressed three key challenges that currently hinder large-scale organic photo-electro synthetic processes to enhance the energy conversion efficiency, selectivity and scalability
Limited stability of electrolytes
Aqueous electrolytes are limited in stability by the onset potentials of the water reduction and oxidation reactions. Ionic liquids (ILs) are currently evaluated at lab-scale as potential non-aqueous electrolytes but long-term stability remains challenging.
SunCoChem developed new stable fluorinated and fluorine-free ionic liquids (ILs) as non-aqueous electrolytes, providing relatively high ionic conductivity and a broad stability window.
Low reactant solubility
The development of PEC organic transformations is currently challenging for the future Chemical Industry due to the limited solubility of organic reagents in aqueous electrolytes present in the cathodic/anodic cells. Currently Ionic Liquids (ILs) are considered as the most ideal solvents.
In SunCoChem, the use of new stable fluorine-free ILs as electrolytes provided a suitable media for solubilisation of organic reagents (i.e. olefins such as Butene and Limonene) and carrying on innovative PEC organic transformations overcoming mass-transfer limitations.
Selectivity over reaction pathways
Due to energy and process efficiency considerations, efficient organic photoelectro-synthetic processes require careful control of competing side reactions to favour the selective formation of the desired product.
SunCoChem coupled the 2-electron reduction of CO2 to CO, which is by far the most selective and highest-yield selective process at low overpotentials, with the in-situ valorisation of by-products through a very well-known established and industrially applied CO-carbonylation process.