(686f) Building Catalysts, Reactors and Engineers for a Sustainable Future

Our planet must address pressing global issues such as climate change, food and water quality, and growing energy demand. Chemical engineering, including reactor design and catalysis development, are crucial to efficient production of fuels and chemical precursors and removal of toxins and pollutants from water and food sources. My research team at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory focuses on pioneering solutions to these challenges by combining advanced manufacturing (AM) and electrochemical engineering. Together, these approaches can be used to design and control catalyst structures, optimize fluid dynamics, and understand mass transport phenomena from the sub-micron through the centimeter length scales; ultimately, my team and I are using AM reactors to shift the paradigm on how we create next generation of chemical reactors.

I will share results from our recently published work where we produced the first 3D-printed vapor-fed reactor (VFRs) for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. These AMVFRs provide effective delivery of CO₂ and result in remarkable selectivity to multi-carbon products, improved single pass CO₂ conversion, and high ethylene and ethanol yields compared to the literature. I will also share preliminary results on how we are using AM reactors to convert air and water directly into ammonia using renewable electricity at ambient conditions. This process uses 30% less energy input compared to the current Haber-Bosch technology and moves us toward a decarbonized process for building the fundamental chemical for fertilizers, enabling decentralized production while drastically reducing the energy and carbon footprint of synthesizing ammonia. Finally, I will share how my nonprofit, the Feaster Foundation, focuses on supporting underserved students who are passionate about helping others, as the development of brilliant engineers is just as important as the development of incredible reactors.

This work was performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.