Energy from methane waste: catalyst selection, parameter study and in-situ investigation of a photo-electrochemical cell.

Methane has recently been under attention as the atmospheric methane concentration is increasing more rapidly than initially expected. As methane is the second largest contributor to the enhanced greenhouse effect, this increases the urge for sustainable methane mitigation strategies in contrast to the current handling of methane emissions (e.g. venting). In this project a sustainable methane mitigation strategy, namely photo-electrochemical (PEC) methane degradation, is presented, which has not been studied before. In a PEC cell both mineralization of methane (at the photo-anode) and hydrogen evolution (at the cathode) are combined in a single device that runs solely on (solar) light as the energy input. First, the PEC cell will be optimized by selecting the best performing photo-anode material, also studying less conventional materials, nanostructures and synthesis strategies. As methane-rich waste streams are often gas mixtures, the influence of different common chemical compounds (O2, CO2, NOx, H2O, NH3) will be investigated both on overall cell performance, as well as in-situ. Finally, the effect of different reaction conditions (temperature, flow rate and light intensity) will also be studied, as these factors are known to strongly influence photo-driven processes. In summary, this project will allow us to evaluate the promise of PEC-technology for energy-efficient abatement of methane waste, while providing valuable new insight into the reaction mechanisms.

Keywords:METHANE

Disciplines:Analytical chemistry, Macromolecular and materials chemistry, Sustainable chemistry, Aquatic sciences, challenges and pollution, Environmental science and management