Critical Raw Materials (CRM), incl. Platinum-Group Metals (PGM), are key to enable Europe to meet its 2030 climate and strategic autonomy objectives. Global demand is constantly growing for CRM, the diversification of EU supply is thus imperative to reduce dependencies and improve EU capacity to rely on sustainable value chains. PARCOVALs aim is to leverage the recognised catalytic capabilities of radioactive PGM (specifically the palladium -Pd) to demonstrate their potential for use and market. PARCOVAL will create 2 circular loops from 2 wastes: 1) recover Pd from spent nuclear fuel (today vitrified and considered a nuclear waste) and 2) reuse the CO2 produced by an existing industry. Pd will be extracted from streams generated in a spent nuclear fuel recycling plant and valorised as catalyst to perform CO2 electroreduction into CO. Performances achieved into CO conversion will be compared between radioactive Pd and natural Pd catalyst at industrial scale (100cm2 electrodes integrated in electrolyser). Catalytic mechanisms involved will be studied to explain the contribution of radioactive radiation during CO2 reduction. The CO2 will be supplied by industrial production units of anaerobic digestion. Focus will be on the characterisation of the CO generated and the non-radioactive gas contamination to consider a transfer into a non-nuclear environment plant will also be demonstrated. A use case to valorise the CO will be studied to produce succinic anhydride which can be incorporated in polyesters through copolymerisation. PARCOVAL will conduct a Life Cycle Analysis to compare environmental impacts of using radioactive Pd and mining extracted Pd to produce succinic anhydride. Moreover, a preliminary business model will be performed and the market potential of target group will be defined. PARCOVAL will also issue best-practice framework to ensure the safety and security of PGM use in the industry, including radioprotection, traceability and collection after use.

The aim of this project is to develop and model an integrated modular system based on continuous-flow heterogeneous photo(electro)catalytic reactors to produce relevant chemicals such as ethylene in the chemical sector, precursor to "green plastics" and many other high-value chemicals using abundant resources such as water, carbon dioxide and light. We aim at delivering cost-efficient small-scale systems for intermittent operation to respond to the needs of rural, isolated territories, and distributed manufacturing. Novel multifunctional photo(electro)catalytic materials integrated into practical and scalable reactors are required in Europe to maintain the technological leadership in chemical manufacturing, while ensuring the deployment of sustainable processes which meet circular economy and green industry for a low-carbon future. FlowPhotoChem will use the expertise of the partners to design, model, construct and validate an integrated modular system with improved energy efficiency and negative CO2 emissions, since concentrated CO2 will be valorised to high-value chemicals. The integrated system will be studied from a life cycle analysis perspective to quantify such effects, and to include a techno-economic study to quantify the cost of the technology and compare with comparable renewable solutions for the production of the same/similar chemicals.

CO2 electrolysis is a promising pathway to produce diverse fuels and chemicals from renewable electricity. Both on the fundamental research level and on TRL levels around 4- 6 strong activities from different stakeholders can be observed. This includes universities, start-ups such as eChemicles (applicant) and corporates such as TotalEnergies or Siemens Energy. However, comparability of performances is difficult due to the lack of standardized test protocols. On the one hand, to push the technology to the next maturity level (TRL 7-8), substantial investments are needed on the individual project level due to high associated CAPEX costs. On the other hand, the lack of thorough benchmarking and validated performances hampers further investments. The development and widespread publication of a standardized and easily applicable test protocol is of utmost importance to support the scaling-up of CO2 electrolysis.

eChemicles is at the global forefront of the emerging Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) industry (also called industrial carbon management). We are scaling-up a breakthrough low-temperature CO2 electrolysis technology based on the world leading scientific results of one of the company’s founders, Professor Csaba Janáky. CO2 electrolysis is a process of transforming CO2 into valuable products using electricity as the only energy input. The technology not only helps reducing CO2 emissions, but also producing essential chemicals or fuels in a sustainable way, using renewable energy sources. Importantly, our technology can help the de-carbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors, such as chemical/petrochemical production, aviation, maritime, or the cement and steel industries without posing the need to decommission the multi trillion USD industrial infrastructure. In our EIC Transition project we have reached TRL6, demonstrating our technology with the world’s first low temperature CO2 electrolyser container prototype, generating green CO in a relevant environment, i.e. integrated to a photovoltaic park. Importantly, we have demonstrated the scalability of our approach, addressing a key bottleneck in our field. In fact, to our best knowledge, we have the currently largest low-temperature CO2 electrolyser stack in the world. Our electrolyser stack design is patented in all relevant markets in Europe, the Middle East, North America and Asia. As the next milestone on our development roadmap, the proposed Accelerator project aims to turn our current containerised prototype into a commercial product, introduced to the market by 2028 to serve demand for small scale production of industrial CO. Entering this beachhead market will demonstrate the market viability of our technology both to potential customers and investors as we keep scaling it up to capacities able to serve the needs of medium- and large-scale production across all targeted industries.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) H2 generation, using water as proton and electron source, is considered the most impactful solar-driven processes to tackle the energy, environment, and climate crisis, providing a circular economy strategy to supply green energy vectors (H2) with zero carbon footprint. Aligning with this view, OHPERA will develop a proof-of-concept unbiased tandem PEC cell to simultaneously achieve efficient solar-driven H2 production at the cathode and high added-value chemicals from valorization of industrial waste (glycerol) at the anode, being sunlight the only energy input. Thus, OPHERA will demonstrate the viability of producing chemicals with economic benefits starting from industrial waste, using a renewable source of energy. For this purpose, OPHERA will integrate highly efficient and stable photoelectrodes based on halide lead-free perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) and tailored catalytic/passivation layers, avoiding the use of critical raw materials (CRM), in a proof-of-concept eco-design PEC device. Theoretical modelling both at an atomistic and device scales will assist the materials development and mechanistic understanding of the processes, and all materials and components will be integrated in a proof-of-concept device, targeting standalone operation at 10 mA·cm-2 for 100 hours, 90% Faradaic efficiency to H2, and including a clearly defined roadmap for upscaling and exploitation. Therefore, OPHERA will offer a dual process to produce green H2 concomitant to the treatment of industrial waste generating added-value chemicals with high economic and industrial interest, thus offering a competitive LCOH.