APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:

• Greenhouse gas mitigation
• Hydrogen production
• Carbon production

BENEFITS:

• High activity, selectivity, and stability compared to current commercial catalysts
• High-value carbon byproduct (Carbon flake and carbon nanotube)
• Efficient regeneration of the catalyst

BACKGROUND:

• Although hydrogen has emerged as a cleaner energy solution, more than 99% of hydrogen is still made from fossil fuels, leaving a substantial carbon footprint. The most widely used method of hydrogen production is by steam-methane reforming of natural gas which has a high hydrogen yield but also produces a large amount of CO2. Methods to improve water electrolysis with renewable energy have become more popular, but the amount of energy required makes a complete replacement with this method difficult to achieve. Methane pyrolysis (MP) is a promising approach for hydrogen production without CO2 emission and produces a high-value carbon byproduct. However, rapid deactivation of the catalysts pose a challenge for large scale production.

TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW: 

Researchers at Berkeley Lab have developed a Ni-Mo catalyst for methane pyrolysis supported by a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanolayer. The h-BN layer acts as a two-dimensional support to enhance catalyst accessibility and allows excess carbon to diffuse, reducing carbon deposition on the catalyst surface and enhancing the catalyst stability significantly longer than commercial Ni/Al2O3. The catalyst also showed 100% H2 selectivity and a methane conversion rate of 36%, over twice as high as commercial Ni/Al2O3. The catalyst can be easily regenerated through ball milling and the regenerated catalyst continues to exhibit high conversion, and co-feeding H2 could further extend the catalyst lifetime.   

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Ji Su

IP Status: Patent pending

OPPORTUNITIES: Available for licensing or collaborative research