(329f) Electrochemical Approach to Decarbonize the Ethylene Glycol Production

Electrifying chemical productions is a potential approach to decarbonizing the chemical industry. Currently, 21% of the global greenhouse gas emissions come from the industry sector, while chemical manufacturing accounts for the largest share of industrial carbon emissions. The electrochemical processes, when powered by renewable electricity, have lower carbon footprints than conventional thermochemical routes. The rapid development of renewable energy provides opportunities in electrifying chemical production and decarbonizing chemical industry.

In this presentation, I would like to share our recent progress on electrifying ethylene glycol production with low carbon footprint.¹ Ethylene glycol is a $25B/year commodity chemical, mainly used as precursor of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and antifreeze, responsible for the emission of 46 MMt CO₂/year. Its present-day production via thermocatalytic ethylene oxidation leads to a carbon intensity of ~ 1.2 CO₂eq per tonne of ethylene glycol. Here we report an electrochemical approach for ethylene glycol electrosynthesis with >90% selectivity towards ethylene glycol at a current density of 200 mA cm^-2. The reaction mechanism is investigated through surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, isotopic-labeling experiment, and density functional theory calculation.

References

1. Xia, R.; Wang, R.; Hasa, B.; Lee, A.; Liu, Y.; Ma, X.; Jiao, F., Electrosynthesis of Ethylene Glycol from C₁ Feedstocks in a Flow Electrolyzer. Nat Commun 2023, 14, 4570.