SPEAKER: Feng Jiao, Professor of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis
TITLE: CO2 Electrolysis Systems for Chemical and Food Production
BIO: Professor Feng Jiao holds a BSc in Chemistry from Fudan University in China and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of St Andrews in the United Kingdom. Following the completion of his postdoctoral training at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he joined the faculty at the University of Delaware in 2010. Then, he was promoted to full professor in 2021 and served as the Director of the Center for Catalytic Science & Technology. In August 2023, Professor Jiao joined the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis as the Elvera and William R. Stuckenberg Professor. He also serves as the director of the Center for Carbon Management. The Jiao research group is developing innovative electrochemical devices to address critical energy and sustainability challenges. Professor Jiao has published over 120 research papers, which have collectively received more than 21,000 citations. His contributions have been recognized with several awards and honors, including his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the receipt of the NSF CAREER Award.
ABSTRACT: Traditional chemical industry processes are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, leading to significant CO₂ emissions and posing serious environmental challenges. Transforming CO₂ into valuable chemicals presents a compelling solution, offering a pathway to a carbon circular economy and a more sustainable future. Our research focuses on understanding and engineering CO₂ electrolysis systems to produce valuable chemicals. We discovered acetate formation during CO electroreduction on Cu catalysts in alkaline electrolytes, identifying a ketene-like intermediate as key to the reaction mechanism. This discovery led to the development of an advanced reactor engineering strategy utilizing an alkaline-stable anion exchange membrane with high ethanol permeability and a selective ethanol partial oxidation anode, significantly improving acetate concentration and purity.[1] To address the challenges of scalability, we successfully designed and operated a 1,000 cm² CO electrolyzer at 0.71 kW and a 500 cm² CO₂ electrolyzer at 0.40 kW.[2] These systems demonstrated stable operation, including the production of 98 liters of 1.2 M acetate at 96% purity during a 125-hour run. Beyond CO₂ conversion, we are also exploring a new concept “electro-agriculture” to revolutionize sustainable food production, contributing to a greener future.[3] Together, these efforts highlight the transformative potential of CO₂ electrolysis technologies for industrial and agricultural sustainability.
References:
1. S. Overa, B. Crandall, B. Shrimant, D. Tian, B. H. Ko, H. Shin, C. Bae and F. Jiao* Enhancing acetate
selectivity by coupling anodic oxidation in carbon monoxide electroreduction. Nature Catalysis 5,
738-745 (2022).
2. B. S. Crandall, B. H. Ko, S. Overa, L. Cherniack, A. Lee, I. Minnie, F. Jiao* Kilowatt-scale tandem
CO2 electrolysis for enhanced acetate and ethylene production. Nature Chemical Engineering 1, 421
(2024).
3. B. S. Crandall, M. Harland-Dunaway, R. E. Jinkerson, F. Jiao* Electro-agriculture: Revolutionizing
farming for a sustainable future. Joule 8, 2974 (2024).
