A New Approach to Carbon Dioxide Utilization: The Carbon Molten Air Battery

Media type: E-Article
Title: A New Approach to Carbon Dioxide Utilization: The Carbon Molten Air Battery
Contributor: Licht, Stuart; Johnson, Marcus; Lefler, Matthew J.; Vicini, Juan
imprint: The Electrochemical Society, 2017
Published in: ECS Meeting Abstracts
Language: Not determined
DOI: 10.1149/ma2017-01/2/184
ISSN: 2151-2043
Keywords: General Medicine
Origination:
Footnote:
Description: <jats:p> As the levels of carbon dioxide (CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>) increase in the Earth’s atmosphere, the effects on climate change become increasingly apparent. With the demand to reduce our dependence on fossils fuels and lower our carbon emissions, a transition to renewable energy sources is necessary. Cost effective large-scale electrical energy storage must be established for renewable energy to become a sustainable option for the future. We've previously shown that carbon dioxide can be captured directly from the air at solar efficiencies as high as 50%, and that carbon dioxide associated with cement formation and the production of other commodities, such as ammonia and iron, can be electrochemically avoided in the STEP process.<jats:sup>1-6</jats:sup> </jats:p> <jats:p>The carbon molten air battery, presented by our group in late 2013,<jats:sup>7</jats:sup> as one of a new class of rechargeable “molten air” batteries that utilize a molten electrolyte and a quasi-reversible air electrode,<jats:sup>7-10</jats:sup> is attractive due to its scalability, location flexibility, and construction from readily available resources, providing a battery that can be useful for large scale applications, such as the storage of renewable electricity. </jats:p> <jats:p>Uncommonly, the carbon molten air battery can utilize carbon dioxide directly from the air:<jats:sup>7,11-18</jats:sup> </jats:p> <jats:p>charging: CO<jats:sub>2(g)</jats:sub> → C<jats:sub>(solid)</jats:sub> + O<jats:sub>2(g) </jats:sub>(1) </jats:p> <jats:p>discharging: C<jats:sub>(solid)</jats:sub> + O<jats:sub>2(g)</jats:sub> → CO<jats:sub>2(g) </jats:sub>(2) </jats:p> <jats:p>More specifically, in a molten carbonate electrolyte containing added oxide, such as lithium carbonate with lithium oxide, the 4 electron charging reaction eq. 1 approaches 100% faradic efficiency and can be described as the following two equations: </jats:p> <jats:p>O<jats:sup>2-</jats:sup> <jats:sub>(dissolved)</jats:sub> + CO<jats:sub>2(g)</jats:sub> → CO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> <jats:sup>2-</jats:sup> <jats:sub>(molten)</jats:sub> <jats:sup> </jats:sup>(1a) </jats:p> <jats:p>CO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> <jats:sup>2-</jats:sup> <jats:sub>(molten)</jats:sub> → C<jats:sub>(solid)</jats:sub> + O<jats:sub>2(g)</jats:sub> + O<jats:sup>2-</jats:sup> <jats:sub>(dissolved)</jats:sub> <jats:sup> </jats:sup>(1b) </jats:p> <jats:p>Using carbon formed directly from the CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>in our earth’s atmosphere, the carbon molten air battery is a viable system to provide large-scale energy storage. </jats:p> <jats:p /> <jats:p /> <jats:p> <jats:bold>References</jats:bold> </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:sup>1</jats:sup>Licht, STEP generation of energetic molecules: A solar chemical process to end anthropogenic global warming, </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>J. 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Chem.</jats:italic> </jats:bold> <jats:bold>, C,</jats:bold> <jats:bold> 119</jats:bold>, 23342 (2015). </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:sup>14</jats:sup>Licht, Douglas, Ren, Carter, Lefler, Pint, Carbon Nanotubes Produced from Ambient Carbon Dioxide for Environmentally Sustainable Lithium-Ion and Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes, </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>ACS Central Science</jats:italic> </jats:bold> <jats:bold>,</jats:bold> <jats:bold> 2</jats:bold>, 162 (2015). </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:sup>15</jats:sup>Ren, Lau, Lefler, Licht, The minimum electrolytic energy needed to convert carbon dioxide by electrolysis in carbonate melts, </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>J. Phys. Chem.</jats:italic> </jats:bold> <jats:bold>, C,</jats:bold> <jats:bold> 119</jats:bold>, 23342 (2015). </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:sup>16</jats:sup>Lau, Dey, Licht, Thermodynamic assessment of CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>to carbon nanofiber transformation for carbon sequestration in a combined cycle gas or a coal power plant, </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>Energy Conservation and Management</jats:italic> </jats:bold> <jats:bold>,</jats:bold> <jats:bold> 122</jats:bold>, 400 (2016). </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:sup>17</jats:sup>Wu, Li, Ji, Liu, Li, Yuan, Zhang, Ren, Lefler, Wang, Licht, One-Pot Synthesis of Nanostructured Carbon Material from Carbon Dioxide via Electrolysis in Molten Carbonate Salts, </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>Carbon</jats:italic> </jats:bold> <jats:bold>,</jats:bold> <jats:bold> 6</jats:bold>, 27760 (2016). </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:sup>18</jats:sup>Ren, Licht, Tracking airborne CO<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>mitigation and low cost transformation into valuable carbon nanotubes, </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:bold> <jats:italic>Scientific Reports</jats:italic> </jats:bold> <jats:bold>,</jats:bold> <jats:bold> 106</jats:bold>, 208 (2016). </jats:p> <jats:p /> <jats:p /> <jats:p> <jats:bold>Figure:</jats:bold> Variations of the Molten Battery.</jats:p> <jats:p> </jats:p> <jats:p> <jats:inline-formula> <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="184fig1.jpeg" xlink:type="simple" /> </jats:inline-formula> </jats:p> <jats:p>Figure 1</jats:p> <jats:p />
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