Formic
acid is a liquid, safe, and energy-dense carrier for fuel
cells. Above all, it can be sustainably produced from the electroreduction
of CO2. The formic acid market is currently saturated,
and it requires alternative applications to justify additional production
capacity. Fuel cell technologies offer a chance to expand it, while
creating an opportunity for sustainability in the energy sector. Formic
acid-based fuel cells represent a promising energy supply system in
terms of high theoretical open-circuit voltage (1.48 V). Compared
to common fuel cells running on H2 (e.g., proton-exchange
membrane fuel cells), formic acid has a lower storage cost and is
safer. This review focuses on the sustainable production of formic
acid from CO2 and on the detailed analysis of commercial
examples of formic acid-based fuel cells, in particular direct formic
acid fuel cell stacks. Designs described in the literature are mostly
at the laboratory scale, still, with 301 W as the maximum power output
achieved. These case studies are fundamental for the scale-up; however,
additional efforts are required to solve crossover and increase performance.
A highly regioselective and enantioselective copper-catalyzed 1,4-conjugate addition of Grignard reagents to linear α,β,γ,δ-unsaturated ketones was developed. The 1,4-addition products were obtained regioselectively in high yields with up to 98% ee.
Integrating a high-pressure syngas step with Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FT) in a single vessel reduces investment and operating costs for Gas-toLiquids technology (GtL). Methane catalytic partial oxidation (CPOX) to produce syngas for FT is an economic opportunity for micro-refineries. Many metals and metal oxides selectively convert natural gas to CO and H 2 , but they also form coke, which must be removed intermittently, otherwise it deactivates the catalyst and can foul the reactor and process lines. Here, we prepared a 1 % mass fraction (0.01 g/g) Pt/Rh (Pt/Rh = 9) catalyst supported on MgO over FeCralloy woven fibre via solution combustion synthesis. At 900 • C, from 0.1-2 MPa, and with a 2:1 feed composition of CH 4 to O 2 , the reaction consumed all the oxygen and we obtained a H 2 /CO ratio of 2 (ideal for FT). At low pressure and a 0.1 s residence time the catalyst converted 90 % of the methane at 90 % CO selectivity. At 2 MPa, CO yield reached 50 % (< 80 % conversion and 57 % selectivity). Based on thermodynamic calculations, less than 5 % coke forms below 900 • C. At high pressure and short residence time (0.1 s), the coke yield (presumed to be coke crystallites) was 24 %. Increasing the residence time to 0.3 s reduced the amount of coke by 33 % because it is metastable.
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