2025 Ensor Lectureship: Jingguang Chen, Ph.D.

About the event

Title: Upgrading CO2 and Biogas to Value-Added Products via Tandem Catalytic Strategies

Media: Lectureship Postcard; Ensor Lectureship Poster with Abstract and Bio

Abstract: Converting CO2 to value-added products is one of the most practical routes for reducing CO2 emissions while fossil fuels continue to dominate the energy sector in the foreseeable future. Thermochemical conversion of CO2 into value-added products, such as olefins, oxygenates and carbon nanofibers, requires the utilization of molecular H2. In order to achieve a net-negative CO2 footprint, H2 needs to be produced from water electrolysis instead of from hydrocarbon sources. However, large-scale deployment of water electrolysis in acidic electrolytes is hindered by the high cost of precious metal electrocatalysts, such as platinum (Pt) for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at the cathode and iridium (Ir) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode. In the first part of this talk, we will discuss our recent efforts in developing cost-effective HER and OER electrocatalysts. We will also discuss tandem processes involving generating H2 from an electrochemical reactor and its subsequent use for CO2 conversion in a thermochemical reactor. In addition to CO2, upgrading decentralized biogas (CH4 and CO2) represents a sustainable route to simultaneously mitigate two potent greenhouse gases. Due to reaction thermodynamics, the conversion of biogas to value-added products cannot be achieved effectively using a single reactor. In the second part of this presentation, we will discuss the conversion of CO2 or biogas using tandem thermochemical and electrochemical reactors to produce carbon nanofibers. We will demonstrate the potential advantages of tandem processes, including reducing reaction temperatures, shifting equilibrium limits, and generating products that cannot be achieved using a single reactor. We will also discuss general tandem strategies involving thermocatalysis, electrocatalysis, biocatalysis and plasma-activated catalysis for the upgrading of CO2 and light alkanes.

Short Speaker Bio: Jingguang Chen is the Thayer Lindsley Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, with a joint appointment at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He received his B.S. degree from Nanjing University and his PhD degree from the University of Pittsburgh.