NSF Grant Funds Research on CO2 as Fossil Fuel Substitute

Tayhas Palmore (Brown University)

Brown University in Providence received a $1.75 million grant for research on substituting carbon dioxide for fossil fuels in industrial chemicals. The funding from National Science Foundation’s Centers for Chemical Innovation program will support a joint chemical innovation program at Brown and Yale universities, headed by principal investigator Tayhas Palmore (pictured left), a materials scientist at Brown.

The Brown-Yale Center for Chemical Innovation aims to make it possible for carbon dioxide (CO2) to become a sustainable feedstock for large-scale commodity chemicals. Many of these chemicals are now derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource, and a source of greenhouse gases. Because of the abundance of CO2, its catalytic conversion into alternative feedstocks could offer a feasible alternative to petroleum. More advances are needed, however, to increase the range of compounds that can be synthesized from CO2.

Palmore’s team will first focus on three commodity chemicals: ethylene, acrylates, and formate. These chemicals are produced in multi-million ton quantities each year and are synthesized largely from petroleum feedstocks. They also serve as inputs for more complex and specialty chemicals.

This project will be part of Brown’s Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation. The grant will support seven other investigators from the chemistry and engineering departments at Brown and Yale.

NSF’s Centers for Chemical Innovation program supports research that addresses long-term challenges in chemistry that can lead to innovation and transformative change. The program funds research in two phases, with the second (continuation) phase scheduled to begin in 2016.

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