Crandall Bradie S, Naughton Matthew, Park Soyeon, Yu Jia, Zhang Chunyan, Mahtabian Shima, Wang Kaiying, Liang Xinhua, Fu Kelvin, Jiao Feng
Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Center for Carbon Management, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA.
Nat Commun. 2024 Dec 4;15(1):10568. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54957-w.
The conversion of CO emissions into valuable 3D printed carbon-based materials offers a transformative strategy for climate mitigation and resource utilization. Here, we 3D print carbon nanocomposites from CO using an integrated system that electrochemically converts CO into CO, followed by a thermocatalytic process that synthesizes carbon nanotubes (CNTs) which are then 3D printed into high-density carbon nanocomposites. A 200 cm electrolyzer stack is integrated with a thermochemical reactor for more than 45 h of operation, cumulatively synthesizing 37 grams of CNTs from CO. A techno-economic analysis indicates a 90% cost reduction in CNT production on an industrial scale compared to current benchmarks, underscoring the commercial viability of the system. A 3D printing process is developed that achieves a high nanocomposite CNT concentration (38 wt%) while enhancing composite structural attributes via CNT alignment. With the rapidly rising demand for carbon nanocomposites, this CO-to-nanocomposite process can make a substantial impact on global carbon emission reduction efforts.
将一氧化碳（CO）排放转化为有价值的3D打印碳基材料，为缓解气候变化和资源利用提供了一种变革性策略。在此，我们使用一个集成系统从CO中3D打印碳纳米复合材料，该系统先将CO电化学转化为CO，然后通过热催化过程合成碳纳米管（CNT），接着将其3D打印成高密度碳纳米复合材料。一个200厘米的电解槽堆栈与一个热化学反应器集成，运行超过45小时，累计从CO中合成了37克CNT。技术经济分析表明，与当前基准相比，该系统在工业规模上生产CNT的成本降低了90%，凸显了该系统的商业可行性。开发了一种3D打印工艺，可实现高纳米复合CNT浓度（38重量%），同时通过CNT排列增强复合材料的结构属性。随着对碳纳米复合材料的需求迅速增长，这种从CO到纳米复合材料的工艺可对全球碳减排工作产生重大影响。
