Carbon nanotube wools made directly from CO2 by molten electrolysis: Value driven pathways to carbon dioxide greenhouse gas mitigation

Johnson, Marcus; Ren, Jiawen; Lefler, Matthew; Licht, Gad; Vicini, Juan; Liu, Xinye; Licht, Stuart

doi:10.1016/j.mtener.2017.07.003

Cited by 70 publications

(123 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…These species upon reduction at the cathode can serve as effective CNT nucleation points; rather than nickel powder directly on the cathode as demonstrated in the Figure 2 series of electrolyses. [1] As in the analogous CVD growth, we observe in C2CNT that Ni promotes CNT growth and Cr promotes CNT repair providing a molten carbonate electrolysis medium to grow long CNTs. No other nucleating agent (no nickel powder) is added to the cell.…”

Section: Co 2 To Cnt Over Cno As a Preferred Morphology In The Presensupporting

confidence: 52%

“…[1,[29][30][31][32][33][37][38][39] Nickel and nickel alloys form a thin, stabilizing oxide layer when used as an anode, and the net reaction is the four electron reduction of CO 2 to form the building block carbons of CNTs. In the presence of transition metal nucleation agents such as nickel and chromium, we have demonstrated the controlled growth of carbon nanotubes from CO 2 as it is dissolved in a molten carbonate electrolyte.…”

Section: Co 2 To Cnt Over Cno As a Preferred Morphology In The Presenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Figure 4 an electrolysis cell is configured with 5 cm 2 coiled using a Nichrome wire anode and a coiled Monel (nickel copper based alloy) wire cathode. [1] As illustrated in Figure 4c, carbon nanotubes in molten carbonate can grow from either a tip (left) or base (root) transition nucleation growth mechanism. We have previously shown both Ni and Cr released from the anode, as well as the Monel cathode substrate, promote the growth of long, high aspect (length/diameter) ratio carbon nanotubes, a "CNT wool" product.…”

Section: Co 2 To Cnt Over Cno As a Preferred Morphology In The Presenmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[23] Carbon nano-onions can also be synthesized using arc discharge, laser ablation and plasma processes, shock compression techniques, autoclave processes (catalytic and noncatalytic), and by carbonization routes, [24] thermal pyrolysis of alcohol at high 2700 K, [25] and high fluence 120 keV implantation of carbon ions into copper and silver. In 2015 we introduced a chemistry to synthesize CNTs at high yield by electrolysis of CO 2 , [1,[29][30][31][32][33][35][36][37][38][39] rather than their conventional CVD synthesis from organometallics. [6] Challenges to the bulk production of bulk carbon nano-onions has limited their commercial availability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[35,36] High yield, low electrolysis voltage, and high uniformity CNTs were demonstrated to be produced from dissolved CO 2 in a variety of alkali and alkali-earth carbonate electrolytes, [32,33] and straight (low defect) or tangled (high defect) were controlled through the addition or exclusion of oxide added to the molten carbonate electrolyte. [1,33,38] In this study we provide for the first time an exploration of the initial phases of molten carbonate electrolysis CNT growth showing their relevance to discovery and introduction here of an alternative high yield carbon nano-onion synthesis: www.advsustainsys.com [1,33,38] In this study we provide for the first time an exploration of the initial phases of molten carbonate electrolysis CNT growth showing their relevance to discovery and introduction here of an alternative high yield carbon nano-onion synthesis: www.advsustainsys.com…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO₂ by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Liu

Ren

Licht

et al. 2019

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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A high yield, low energy synthesis of carbon nano‐onions (CNOs) by electrolysis of CO2 in molten carbonate is presented. Carbon nano‐onions are a recently recognized, less studied morphology of carbon nanomaterials consisting of nested concentric carbon spheroids. Previously, a high yield growth of carbon nanotubes by CO2 electrolysis in molten carbonate was achieved through transition metal nucleation points on the electrolysis cathode. Here, effective low energy CNO synthesis from CO2 is achieved instead by excluding those nucleating agents from the molten carbonate growth medium resulting in a profusion of uniform CNOs, with an increasing diameter correlated to increasing growth time. CO2 transformation to valuable materials, such as CNOs, adds value to CO2 to incentivize consumption of this greenhouse pollutant. For example, CNOs are currently valued 20 000 times higher than coal.

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Section: Co 2 To Cnt Over Cno As a Preferred Morphology In The Presensupporting

confidence: 52%

Section: Co 2 To Cnt Over Cno As a Preferred Morphology In The Presenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Co 2 To Cnt Over Cno As a Preferred Morphology In The Presenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO₂ by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Liu

Ren

Licht

et al. 2019

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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CO₂ Utilization by Electrolytic Splitting to Carbon Nanotubes in Non‐Lithiated, Cost‐Effective, Molten Carbonate Electrolytes

Wang

Licht²,

Liu

et al. 2022

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), have extraordinarily high tensile strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, and electrical storage capabilities. To date, CNTs have had limited use due to their high synthesis cost. The synthesis costs decrease when CNTs are prepared by transition metal nucleated molten electrolytic CO2 splitting, rather than by conventional chemical vapor deposition or arc deposition techniques. In addition to cost, a second advantage of CNT electrosynthesis is that the process consumes the greenhouse gas CO2 in its transformation to CNTs (and oxygen), providing a path to climate mitigation. However, electrolytic high yield, CNT syntheses has only been demonstrated with expensive lithiated electrolytes, such as pure or mixed Li2CO3. This study demonstrates, after several hundred failures, that carbon nanomaterials, can be synthesized from CO2 in non‐lithiated electrolytes. In the new sodium barium carbonate electrolytes, lower mobility due to the absence of lithium ions is overcome by: i) low current density; or ii) the introduction of oxides, such as BaO, to induce graphene walls to facilitate passage of larger cations during the process of growing CNTs; and/or iii) addition of specific transition metal nucleation agents, such as Fe2O3. The electrolysis uses inexpensive anodes and cathodes to form carbon nanomaterials, including straight and coiled CNTs.

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Electrochemical Fixation of Carbon Dioxide in Molten Salts on Liquid Zinc Cathode to Zinc@Graphitic Carbon Spheres for Enhanced Energy Storage

Xiao

Weng

et al. 2020

Advanced Energy Materials

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to epoxides is realized in ionic liquids by Sun and co-workers. [14,15] Fixation and utilization of CO 2 is also elaborately explored via designing the metal-CO 2 batteries by Ding and co-workers. [16] Fixation of CO 2 into functional carbonaceous materials by capture and electrochemical reduction of CO 2 in molten salts has many advantages. [6,17-19] CO 2 shows a high solubility in molten salts, guaranteeing a highflux uptake rate for a direct and deep removal of CO 2 from atmosphere and industrial flue gas. [6] The wide electrochemical window of molten salt electrolytes promises a high current efficiency of the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 in molten salts. [6,20-24] The high-temperature environment of inorganic molten salts brings about enhanced mass transfer and facilitated reaction kinetics, enabling an appealing conversion rate of CO 2 free of any precious catalysts. [6,14,15] Molten salts possess a high heat capacity, which means the heat required by the molten salt fixation of CO 2 can be supplied by solar-thermal systems. [17] The decomposition voltage of CO 2-capture-generated CO 3 2− in molten salts is lower than 2.0 V (1.3 V for Li 2 CO 3 , 1.6 V for Na 2 CO 3 , and 1.8 V for K 2 CO 3 at 500 °C), therefore the electricity for the conversion of CO 2 in molten salts can be supplied by solar photovoltaic systems. [17] Finally, oxygen in CO 2 can simultaneously be released as anodic O 2 , which is of prime implications on future colony on Mars. [6] One of the major challenges for the electrochemical fixation of CO 2 in molten salts is the insufficient functionality of the deposited carbon on cathode. [6] Amorphous and disordered carbon is commonly obtained by electrochemical conversion of CO 2 in molten salts, which contradicts with the demands of application devices for carbonaceous materials with high graphitization degree. [6] For example, aluminum-ion (Al-ion) battery (AIB) possesses the merits of low cost, high volumetric capacity, and high safety. Many cathode materials are reported for Al-ion batteries, including carbon-based materials, metal sulfides, and V 2 O 5. [25-27] For carbon-based materials, the carbon with higher graphitization degree commonly possesses better performance for reversible Al storage. [26,27] In this regard, pioneering works were conducted by Lu and coworkers. [7,28-33] In their strategy, a highly porous 3D graphene foam is used as the cathode for rechargeable Al-ion batteries,

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Carbon nanotube wools made directly from CO2 by molten electrolysis: Value driven pathways to carbon dioxide greenhouse gas mitigation

Cited by 70 publications

References 40 publications

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO₂ by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO₂ by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

CO₂ Utilization by Electrolytic Splitting to Carbon Nanotubes in Non‐Lithiated, Cost‐Effective, Molten Carbonate Electrolytes

Electrochemical Fixation of Carbon Dioxide in Molten Salts on Liquid Zinc Cathode to Zinc@Graphitic Carbon Spheres for Enhanced Energy Storage

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Carbon nanotube wools made directly from CO2 by molten electrolysis: Value driven pathways to carbon dioxide greenhouse gas mitigation

Cited by 70 publications

References 40 publications

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO2 by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO2 by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

CO2 Utilization by Electrolytic Splitting to Carbon Nanotubes in Non‐Lithiated, Cost‐Effective, Molten Carbonate Electrolytes

Electrochemical Fixation of Carbon Dioxide in Molten Salts on Liquid Zinc Cathode to Zinc@Graphitic Carbon Spheres for Enhanced Energy Storage

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO₂ by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Carbon Nano‐Onions Made Directly from CO₂ by Molten Electrolysis for Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

CO₂ Utilization by Electrolytic Splitting to Carbon Nanotubes in Non‐Lithiated, Cost‐Effective, Molten Carbonate Electrolytes