Abstract
This project targets catalysts and processes for the H2 gas free electro-hydrogenation (e-hydrogenation) of organic compounds with renewable electricity and H2O as the source of hydrogen atoms in flow electrolyzers. Existing e-hydrogenation relies on H+ reduction from often expensive proton sources, has insufficient energy efficiency, and suffers from often low reaction selectivity, due to parasitic H2 evolution. This project aims for new catalysts that activate neutral H2O as a cheap and scalable proton source at low overpotential. A holistic approach, combining catalyst design and process development in flow electrolysis is proposed to tune reaction selectivity and efficiency beyond possibilities of catalyst optimization alone. Comparing catalyst performance in batch and flow conditions, will help to derive guidelines on reaction tuning by process design for e-hydrogenation. E-hydrogenation of acetone to isopropanol as a LOHC couple for reversible energy storage is used as benchmark process. Further targets are e-hydrogenation of bio-feedstocks, alkenes and alkynes.
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