TY - JOUR
T1 - Alkaline thermal treatment of seaweed for high-purity hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage potential
AU - Zhang, Kang
AU - Kim, Woo Jae
AU - Park, Ah Hyung Alissa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - Current thermochemical methods to generate H2 include gasification and steam reforming of coal and natural gas, in which anthropogenic CO2 emission is inevitable. If biomass is used as a source of H2, the process can be considered carbon-neutral. Seaweeds are among the less studied types of biomass with great potential because they do not require freshwater. Unfortunately, reaction pathways to thermochemically convert salty and wet biomass into H2 are limited. In this study, a catalytic alkaline thermal treatment of brown seaweed is investigated to produce high purity H2 with substantially suppressed CO2 formation making the overall biomass conversion not only carbon-neutral but also potentially carbon-negative. High-purity 69.69 mmol-H2/(dry-ash-free)g-brown seaweed is produced with a conversion as high as 71%. The hydroxide is involved in both H2 production and in situ CO2 capture, while the Ni/ZrO2 catalyst enhanced the secondary H2 formation via steam methane reforming and water-gas shift reactions.
AB - Current thermochemical methods to generate H2 include gasification and steam reforming of coal and natural gas, in which anthropogenic CO2 emission is inevitable. If biomass is used as a source of H2, the process can be considered carbon-neutral. Seaweeds are among the less studied types of biomass with great potential because they do not require freshwater. Unfortunately, reaction pathways to thermochemically convert salty and wet biomass into H2 are limited. In this study, a catalytic alkaline thermal treatment of brown seaweed is investigated to produce high purity H2 with substantially suppressed CO2 formation making the overall biomass conversion not only carbon-neutral but also potentially carbon-negative. High-purity 69.69 mmol-H2/(dry-ash-free)g-brown seaweed is produced with a conversion as high as 71%. The hydroxide is involved in both H2 production and in situ CO2 capture, while the Ni/ZrO2 catalyst enhanced the secondary H2 formation via steam methane reforming and water-gas shift reactions.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85088851822&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-17627-1
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-17627-1
M3 - Article
C2 - 32728021
AN - SCOPUS:85088851822
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 3783
ER -