Competitive Advantage:
- Highly active methane dry reforming catalyst based on cheap active metals (Ni and Co) which can be synthesised rapidly in a single step method, and is readily scalable;
- High conversion of methane (up to 90%) is achievable at a relatively low operating temperature of 700°C;
- Catalyst support (using SiO2 and Al2O3) modification to enhance catalyst stability
Impact:
- Alleviate global warming by recycling CO2 into synthetic fuels;
- Effective use of abundant and free energy from the sun
Successful applications:
- The construction and commissioning of a Solar Thermal Plant for integrated CO2 methanation with hydrogen production via catalysed water electrolysis
Capabilities and facilities:
- Access to expertise and state-of-the-art facilities for catalyst synthesis for large scale production;
- Characterisation and testing of catalyst performance
- In-situ testing to understand conversion mechanisms
Researchers:
- Dr Jian Pan
- Dr Tze Hao Tan
- Scientia Prof Rose Amal
Highlighted Publications:
- Synergistic ultraviolet and visible light photo-activation enables intensified low-temperature methanol synthesis over copper/zinc oxide/alumina, Nature Communications, 2020, 11(1), 1615