Liquid Metal Enabled Mechano Catalytic Conversion of Organic Materials

Producing gases such as hydrogen (H₂) and ethylene (C₂H₄) from renewable resources with a low carbon footprint is critical for environmental sustainability. However, current methods are constrained by high temperature requirements and reliance on fossil fuels, limiting the sustainable their production.
Liquid metals act as super catalysts, enabling reactions at low temperatures while offering new reaction pathways through the incorporation of co-catalysts. In this talk, hybrid catalytic systems that converts renewable biofuels into predominantly H₂ and C₂H₄ at near room temperature, using mechanical energy as the driving force, will be presented. The system employs liquid metal gallium (Ga) combined with nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and other transition and post transition metals as co-catalysts. During the collisions of suspended nano- and micro-sized liquid state Ga/co-catalyst droplets, biofuels such as canola oil and other liquid hydrocarbons can be converted at the interfaces of these catalytic materials.
In this presentation, the phenomenon is discussed and it will be show that based on simulations how C–H and C–C bond dissociation on the Ga surface occurs under low-energy conditions.
This catalytic process converts biofuels mainly into gases including H₂ and C₂H₄, along with by-products and also solid carbon. With mild heating, the system can produce these gases using canola organic fuels as the feedstock. The system's durability and practical potential are demonstrated.
This approach provides a sustainable alternative for producing essential gases without the need for high reaction temperatures or fossil fuel-based hydrocarbons.

References:
[1] Tang J, Kumar PV, Cao Z, Han J, Daeneke T, Esrafilzadeh D, O'Mullane AP, Tang J, Rahim MA, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Low temperature mechano-catalytic biofuel conversion using liquid metals. Chemical Engineering Journal. 2023, 452, 139350.
[2] Tang J, Christofferson AJ, Sun J, Zhai Q, Kumar PV, Yuwono JA, Tajik M, Meftahi N, Tang J, Dai L, Mao G, Russo SP, Kaner RB, Rahim MA, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Dynamic configurations of metallic atoms in the liquid state for selective propylene synthesis, Nature Nanotechnology, 2024, 19, 275-276.