PNNL

Abstract

The central role and critical importance of catalysis in a future based on sustainability, together with the insight that developments have to be knowledge-based have motivated significant efforts to better understand catalyzed processes and to develop new catalytic routes from this knowledge. Overall, three main energy carriers are used worldwide, carbon (and hydrocarbons), hydrogen, and electrons. Conventionally, the stored energy is accessed by oxidizing carbon and hydrogen, forming O-H and C-O bonds and performing work with the produced heat or electricity. Conversely, to synthesize energy carriers sustainably, it is consequently required to reverse the direction, i.e., to break C-O and O-H bonds and form C-C, C-H and H-H bonds. To address these challenges, PNNL’s BES-sponsored program comprises three thrust areas with subtasks, focusing on the fundamentals of biomass conversion processes, direct and indirect CO2 reduction, and on elementary studies aimed at generating and using H2. Multi-functionality, i.e., the simultaneous interaction of more than one catalytically active site with the substrate is the key to achieving the atom and energy efficiency in individual steps. The combination of several types of these sites with carefully selected energetics and rate constants is used to generate complex catalysts able to enhance the rates of multistep processes. This short report summarizes recent results obtained in this BES-funded program.