(560a) Experimental and Computational Efficiency Analysis of Perovskites-Driven Solar Thermochemical CO2 Conversion Cycle

Syngas serves as a crucial input for the Fischer Tropsch process, which is responsible for generating liquid transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The syngas that is supplied as feedstock to the Fischer Tropsch process is typically produced through the gasification of fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, or petroleum coke. The disproportionate and unchecked consumption of fossil fuels has been a major cause of concern in recent times, as it not only depletes their finite resources but also contributes significantly to the alarming rise in global environmental issues. A alternate technique to generate syngas incorporates a perovskite-based thermochemical redox cycle that splits water (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The perovskite based thermochemical redox cycle involves a two-step procedure. In the first step, perovskites are thermally reduced. This is followed by the second step in which the reduced perovskites are re-oxidized through the splitting of H₂O/CO₂. This results in the production of fuel such as hydrogen or syngas. In the present research, we have successfully synthesized A_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3-δ perovskites (where A represents lanthanides) employing the combustion method. We have further evaluated their efficacy for the thermochemical splitting of H₂O/CO₂. The A_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3-δ perovskites were subjected to a thorough characterization process using various analytical techniques, including Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) analysis. The perovskites were then subjected to thermochemical redox reactions using a high-temperature Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) setup. The resulting experimental data obtained was used to estimate the solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency of the A_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3-δ perovskites-driven thermochemical H₂O/CO₂ splitting cycle. This estimation was made possible by performing computational thermodynamic analysis on the experimental results.