An Intensified Electro-Catalytic Process for Production of Formic Acid from Power Plant CO2 Emissions

The goal of the proposed project is to develop and test a novel electro-catalytic method for the production of high-value formic acid from coal-derived CO2, as a strategy to offset the cost of CO2 capture. Formic acid is currently produced from the decomposition of higher-order carbon products such as methane and/or methanol. This electro-catalytic CO2 reduction processes utilized a highly selectivity catalyst in a flow-through reactor design to maximize the formic acid production rate. The specific objectives of this proposed study are to: 1) produce and screen highly selective engineered CO2 reducing catalysts capable of exclusively producing formic acid; 2) immobilize the catalyst within a flow process to continually produce formic acid and catalyst increase lifetime; and 3) assess the stability of the electro-catalyst in the presence of trace contaminants in the CO2 stream during long-term operation.