Biographical Information
PROFESSOR CURTIS P. BERLINGUETTE
Prof. Curtis P. Berlinguette leads a multidisciplinary team at the University of British Columbia that designs and builds electrochemical reactors to power the planet. These reactors are designed to use electricity to: (i) convert CO2 into fuels and products1; (ii) decarbonize the built environment2; (iii) upgrade commodity chemicals3; and (iv) drive lower temperature nuclear fusion reactions4. The Berlinguette program has also pioneered self-driving labs that advance clean energy materials.5 Dr. Berlinguette is a Distinguished University Scholar at UBC, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a CIFAR Program Director.
References
- Joule 2019, 1487; Science 2019, 367.
- Energy Environ. Sci. 2022.
- Nat. Catal. 2018, 501; Nat. Catal. 2020, 719.
- Nature 2019, 45.
- Science Advances 2020; Nature Mat. 2021; Nature Comm. 2022
Titre: Reactive Carbon Capture
Prof. Curtis P. Berlinguette
Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering
The University of British Columbia
Carbon capture and utilization schemes require that CO2 captured from the atmosphere (or a point source) be released from the sorbent, and that the sorbent be recycled to capture additional CO2. Alkaline solutions such as KOH are effective at capturing CO2 through reactions that form (bi)carbonates, but the recovery of CO2 gas and hydroxide before CO2 electrolysis requires energy-intensive steps. We have solved this problem by designing an electrochemical reactor that converts bicarbonate “reactive carbon capture solutions” into carbon-containing products. In this presentation, I will show how this reactor couples CO2 utilization with upstream carbon capture, and also how it can perform better than the reactors fed with gaseous CO2 that are widely studied today.
