Licensing Opportunity: Scalable Nitrogen-Carbon Catalyst for CO2 Reduction Using Nitrogen Plasma (N2) Treatment

Invention Reference Number: 202405555

This technology overcomes the limitations of carbon materials like Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) and graphene in carbon dioxide reduction. These materials show significant inactivity in electrochemical carbon dioxide (Na-CO2)reduction applications. This technology is a unique solution focusing on enhancing the efficacy of sodium-carbon dioxide (Na-CO2) batteries. It uses a specialized treatment process applied to carbonaceous materials. The result is much improved efficiency and effectiveness of next generation metal-CO2 batteries.

Description

Traditionally, enhancing carbon dioxide reduction efficiency involves laborious and time-consuming methods, such as coating with ruthenium metallic catalysts or organic solvent processing at elevated temperature. However, these methods are costly and challenging to scale for broader applications. This technology introduces a novel, cost-effective, and scalable method that significantly enhances carbon dioxide reduction capabilities of these carbon materials for use in Na-CO2 batteries. The technology subjects these materials to nitrogen plasma treatment that plays a crucial role in activating the carbonaceous materials, thereby making them more efficient for the carbon dioxide reduction reaction process. By altering the surface properties and electronic structure of the carbonaceous materials through nitrogen plasma treatment, their catalytic activity is enhanced, particularly for CO2 reduction. This increases efficiency and effectiveness of Na-CO2 batteries for the next generation of high-performance batteries.

Benefits

• Increases efficiency and effectiveness of Na-CO2 batteries


• Environmentally friendly


• High yield


• Single step, time efficient


• Scalable


• Broadly applicable


• Tunable

Applications and Industries

• Carbon dioxide reduction


• Metal-CO2 batteries


• Battery manufacturers

Contact

To learn more about this technology, email partnerships@ornl.gov or call 865-574-1051.