The Liu group participates in a newly funded NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC), lead by Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). This 5-year $26M center (EEC-2330245), named as The Carbon Utilization Redesign for Biomanufacturing-Empowered Decarbonization (CURB), will use a Hybrid Electro-Bio CO2 Utilization System (HEBCUS) that uses electrocatalysis to turn waste carbon dioxide into intermediate substances, such as ethanol, acetate and propionate. These intermediates will be compatible with biomanufacturing systems that can more efficiently convert them into a range of products, such as platform chemicals, biofertilizers and other environmentally responsible materials.
As one thrust leader of this ERC, Chong look forwards to the collaboration and research progresses in the future~~
The news release from WashU can be found here.