An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Waterloo aims to tackle CO2 emissions in the value chain by transforming CO2 into valuable chemicals needed by industry.
Supported by BMO, the research focuses on the use of green hydrogen to capture CO2 from power plants as well as the iron, steel, and cement industries, and convert it into useful gases via reverse water gas shift reaction.
Led by Dr. Luis Ricardez-Sandoval, a professor of chemical engineering, the research team aims to develop a computational framework that will accelerate the design and discovery of novel materials that will facilitate the transformation of CO2 into useful industrial gases using atomistic modelling, advanced optimization, machine learning techniques and laboratory experiments.
The computational framework can be adapted to address other global issues such as finding new materials to alleviate food insecurity or aiding industries in transitioning to lower carbon operations.
“This exciting project has the potential to discover high-performance materials that will not only promote a circular carbon economy but can also be adapted to facilitate the development of novel materials for other emerging applications including the renewable energy and electrification sectors,” says Ricardez-Sandoval.
The research team is made up of Dr. Aiping Yu and Dr. David Simakov, both professors of chemical engineering, Dr. Pascal Poupart, a professor of computer science, and Dr. Ricardo Fukasawa, a professor of combinatorics and optimization.
Read more at the University of Waterloo
Photo by Anthony Black: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-power-plant-near-body-of-water-6101127/