The research project HyCARB brings together Dutch clean-tech companies, universities and research institutes to develop the technology base for industrial end users worldwide for carbon-based chemicals production using hydrogen, green electrons and captured carbon dioxide. New scientific approaches will be pursued to achieve breakthroughs for cost- and energy-efficient sustainable production of fuels and chemicals by identifying, developing and testing improved catalysts, key components such as reactors, electrolysers and innovative approaches for electrified heating. Laboratory work using the latest generation analytical equipment will be combined with techno-economic and lifecycle assessments of a range of technologies to help industry decarbonise.

As the chemical industry shifts towards electrified and circular chemical processes, methane is expected to become a major bottleneck for closing the carbon loop. It is critical that methane is valorised rather than burnt for energy to achieve zero CO2 emissions. This project develops ultrafast plasma pyrolysis of methane to ethylene as innovative and economically viable technology for methane valorisation. It requires fundamental insight into chemical kinetics occurring on microsecond timescales, which are resolved by combining solid state microwave generators with mid-infrared frequency combs spectroscopy.

The granted three projects of this NWA-call span the continuum from chemicals, materials and products and their safety, sustainability and circularity during their entire life cycle from design to waste. Here, we will synthesize the knowledge and tools developed, and in this way facilitate interaction between the domains of chemicals, materials or products. This Phase II BenignSynthesis project will as far as possible further generalize, integrate and simplify methods developed in the three Phase I projects, aiming for an overarching Safe,Sustainable&Circular-by-Design approach for the Chemicals-Materials-Product continuum in which the life cycle of design, production, consumption and waste is accounted for.

The societal urge to turn to sustainable and circular modes of production and consumption brings huge challenges for the Dutch chemical industry. Currently, safety considerations as well as economies of scale dictate a landscape of large installations clustering at industrial sites. Products include fertilizers, plastics, and vaccine carrier proteins and are mostly fossil derived. A roadmap to guide the industry to sustainable and circular whilst also preserving economic viability and at least the existing level of safety does not yet exist as suitable technology is lacking. A potential solution for the common building block acrylonitrile is investigated in this work.

Polypropylene (PP) is a significant plastic in flame retardant (FR) products in electronics and transportation. Single-molecule FRs like phosphorus-sulfur (P-S) FRs are part of the state-of-the-art research for applications in PP due to their promising FR performance at low concentrations. However, P-S FRs are not commercially used because their decomposition mechanisms are unknown during processing and in the use phase, thus leading to poor recyclability. This project proposes a systematic interdisciplinary study on the degradation, processing, and recycling of PP/FR plastics to lay a scientific basis for developing new PP/FR plastics and increasing their recycling quantity and quality.