Sandia Researchers Develop Porous Liquids for Energy Capture

So proud of our work on the discovery of new of liquid phase separation materials with Tina Nenoff, Dennis Robinson Brown, Harrison Root, Benjamin Siu, Matthew Hurlock, Melissa Mills, Sharlotte Kramer, and David Montes de Oca Zapiain, Ph.D.!

One man’s “waste” is a methanogen’s gourmet dinner, especially when you serve the H₂ in situ. We just published our electrochemically integrated bioreactor system (EiBS) in Chemical Engineering Journal (CEJ) Led by the ingenious Ramineh Rad we present a simple and practical-idea: Instead of producing H₂ somewhere else and paying the energy + hardware tax for compression, mixing, and gas handling, we generate H₂ directly in the wastewater growth medium and let a hydrogenotrophic microbiome turn CO₂ / H2 into CH₄ on the spot. What’s on the menu: • In-situ H₂ from a novel zero-gap PEM electrolyzer • Packed-bed methanogenic reactor (no external H₂ handling) • Noble-metal-free pentlandite (Fe₃Co₃Ni₃S₈) cathode that stays stable in real wastewater • A Methanobacterium/Methanospirillum-dominated community that is very happy when H₂ is continuously available • Beyond methane production, the system removed more than 50% of the influent ammonium What it achieved, in real wastewater streams from a large-scale treated wastewater and reject water: • Up to 85 mA cm⁻² and 1712 LCH₄ m⁻² d⁻¹ • 81% electron recovery and up to 45% energy efficiency (45% at 70 mA cm⁻²) • >380 days continuous EiBS operation Takeaway: wastewater treatment plants can become decentralized renewable energy storage hubs—turning captured/biogenic CO₂ into grid-compatible methane with minimal added infrastructure. But this is still a very small piece to a larger mosaic. Enjoy! Daniel Siegmund | Tito Gehring Mira Gamache | Stefan Krimmler | Mario Corbalan | Manfred Lübken | Marc Wichern | Ulf-Peter Apfel | Fraunhofer UMSICHT #PowerToX #PowerToMethane #MicrobialElectrosynthesis #Wastewater #CO2Utilization #Electrochemistry #PEM #Catalysis #EnergyStorage

📢 New scientific publication I am pleased to share that this month I have published a new research article in the journal 𝙀𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙮: 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e6MNq2iC 📝 Continuous supercritical water gasification of orange peel, sewage sludge, and dairy waste model compounds In this work, we experimentally investigate the supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of representative compounds found in real wet wastes such as orange peel, sewage sludge, and dairy residues, operating in a continuous reactor without catalyst at high pressure and temperature (240 bar, 600–800 °C). One of the key contributions of this study is the analysis of multicomponent mixtures, revealing that the gasification behaviour of real waste streams cannot always be predicted from single-compound experiments due to interaction effects between intermediate species. These interactions can significantly hinder hydrogen production and overall gasification efficiency, especially at lower temperatures. The results provide mechanistic insights and practical guidance for the design, optimisation, and scale-up of SCWG systems for wet biomass and organic wastes, highlighting the importance of kinetics, residence time, and catalytic strategies for improving hydrogen-rich gas production. Grateful to my co-author (also my thesis director) for his support throughout this research. #Energy #Hydrogen #WasteToEnergy #SCWG #Research #Sustainability #ChemicalEngineering

Wastewater treatment plants as energy hubs.   In our recent work published in Chemical Engineering Journal (CEJ), we demonstrate an electrochemically integrated bioreactor (EiBS) that converts CO₂ into grid-quality methane directly within wastewater streams.   https://lnkd.in/dGm82x4V   The system operates at up to 100 mA cm⁻², reaches 1712 LCH₄ m⁻² d⁻¹, achieves ~45% energy efficiency, and runs stably for >380 days under real reject water conditions, while removing >50% ammonium. No external hydrogen logistics. No precious metal cathodes. Designed with scalable PEM architecture.   This work combines wastewater process expertise from Tito Gehring and Marc Wichern's group with electrochemical innovation from Ulf-Peter Apfel’s group, bringing zero-gap electrolyzer technology into real WWTP conditions. A practical pathway for integrating Power-to-X into existing WWTP infrastructure and reducing aeration energy demand.   Proud to have contributed to this step toward carbon-neutral energy storage in the water-energy nexus. Tito Gehring | Daniel Siegmund | Kevinjeorjios Pellumbi | Mira Gamache | Mario Andrés Corbalán Gutiérrez | Dr.-Ing. Manfred Lübken | Stefan Krimmler   Fraunhofer UMSICHT | Ruhr University Bochum #PowerToX #PowerToMethane #Wastewater #CO2Utilization #EnergyStorage

New paper out in ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. “Polycyclopropanated Lipid-Inspired Ionic Liquids as High Energy Density Fuel Candidates" 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gqppqxjt Aviation is one of the hardest sectors to decarbonize. Our approach: renewable cyclopropanated ionic liquid fuels from fatty acid feedstocks that achieve energy densities competitive with JP-10 — with the added safety benefits of negligible vapor pressure and excellent thermal stability. Shoutout to to my former M.S. student Chris Butch and undergraduate researcher Raychell Jerdo for all the leg work🙌 This work is a collaboration between three public PUIs — SUNY Oswego, Univ. of South Alabama, and Illinois State Univ. — a great example of what PUIs can accomplish together. Grateful for our AFRL collaborators, and support from NSF (CHE-2244980) and Shineman Foundation. #SustainableChemistry #SustainableAviationFuel #HighEnergyDensityFuels #IonicLiquids #UndergraduateResearch #ACSPublications #PUIs

Featured in C&EN, Rice University Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Shihong Lin provided expert commentary on a breakthrough seesaw-like device that extracts lithium from seawater using only sunlight and gravity. Lin praised the innovation developed by researchers at Zhejiang University and Argonne National Laboratory, calling it "very clever" because "they use only solar energy and gravity. There's no electricity use, it's a low-maintenance system." The device boosts lithium concentrations by more than 15-fold and captures 70% more lithium than traditional adsorbents, addressing the growing global demand for lithium in electric vehicle batteries and energy storage systems. Read more in Chemical & Engineering News: https://lnkd.in/gec2hK2M

📘 New Publication in Elsevier Journal of CO₂ Utilization 😊 I am pleased to share our latest publication on methanol-powered Ro-Ro vessels with onboard CO₂ capture and circular carbon utilisation. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d4h2sJVN > This work was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Patchigolla Kumar and with technical contribution of Shadab Alam at the Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre, Teesside University, as part of the NI/GB Green Shipping Corridor (CMDC-4) project funded by the UK Department for Transport and Innovate UK. The work is completed with significant contributions by B9 Energy and other maritime partners. 🔬 What we developed: A system-level thermodynamic model integrating onboard methanol reforming, hydrogen production with PEM fuel cells, CO₂ compression and liquefaction, and port-side e-methanol synthesis, forming a closed carbon loop for short-sea Ro-Ro shipping. ⚙️ Key outcomes: • 28.36% net onboard propulsion efficiency. • 22.2% end-to-end efficiency (green H₂ to propulsion). • Defined chilled methanol and CO₂ ISO tank requirements. • Demonstrated the feasibility of a closed-carbon-loop maritime corridor. 🌍 Why it matters: Ro-Ro vessels on fixed UK routes are suitable candidates for early deployment of green fuels. This study provides a realistic thermodynamic benchmark supporting the UK’s clean maritime transition aligned with IMO 2050 targets. Grateful to all co-authors, collaborators, reviewers and funding bodies for supporting this research. #CleanMaritime #GreenShipping #Methanol #CarbonCapture #Hydrogen #CMDC #InnovateUK #UKMaritime

#openaccess #cleantechnologies #renewable #energy #callforreading #article Hybrid-Energy-Powered Electrochemical Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Model: Plant Operation, Cost, and Profitability 🔎 Main findings In this paper, we describe the development of an open-source Python-based generalizable model for electrodialysis-based ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) plants. The model is used to (1) evaluate the performance of a theoretical case study OAE plant with different locally available energy sources and (2) explore which microgrid and scale can enable the plant to become profitable without carbon credits by selling co-products such as dilute acid or recycled concrete aggregate. 🌍 Implications The results show that the example OAE plant could be profitable without carbon credits at commercial scales, which indicates that similar commercial-scale plants could either require low-cost carbon credits to break even or be profitable without them if they use low-cost electricity and sell their co-products. Additional work is required to verify the results as more data on these plants become publicly available; however, this model can still act as a helpful preliminary tool for evaluating potential OAE plant deployments. ✍️Authors: James Salvador Niffenegger, Kaitlin Brunik, Katie Peterson, Andrew Simms, Tristen Myers Stewart, Jessica Cross, Michael Lawson 👉 https://brnw.ch/21x06X0 🏛️ National Laboratory of the Rockies 🏛️ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory #co2capture #marinecarbondioxideremoval #oceanalkalinityenhancement #hybridenergy #marineenergy #tidalenergy #recycledconcreteaggregates #wasteconcreteupcycling #electrodialysis

⚡ New Publication Alert! ⚡ 📝 𝗧𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: "From lab to industry: Screening carbon materials for enhanced  plasma-based CO2 conversion and evaluating economic feasibility" 👨🔬 𝗔𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬: A. Vandenbroucke, R. Bryssinck, G. Trenchev and A. Bogaerts 📘 𝗝𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥:  Chemical Engineering Journal 532, 174284 (2026). 👉 https://lnkd.in/eKejhTkK

Happy to share our new paper on ⚡ plasma-based CO2 conversion with post-plasma C-bed ⚡, where we compare different C materials for optimal performance, but also economic feasibility, thus bridging towards industrial use, together with our spinoff D-CRBN ! Congratulations Amira Vandenbroucke for the excellent work !!