Molten salt electrolysis is a promising pathway to explore for renewable energy driven manufacturing. Electrochemical technology allows for the chemical transformation of materials with the driving force being electrons, removing the need for chemical reducing agents. Molten salt electrolysis already has commercial application in the production of aluminium in a cryolite melt at an operating temperature of >960°C, however these systems still rely on the use of fossil-derived carbon as anode materials in the oxygen liberation reaction, contributing upwards of 18% of overall carbon dioxide emissions of aluminium production [1].
To decarbonise manufacturing, molten salt electrolysis must use non-consumable anodes for the oxidation reaction, liberating oxygen gas from an oxide intermediate at the anode instead of carbon dioxide. In this talk, molten salt electrolysis encompassing electrochemical technologies which can use a variety of salts and electrodes will be presented. Generation of different high-value materials of interest from their base oxides including iron [2, 3] and carbon [4] will be demonstrated and technology challenges [5] addressed.
This talk will particularly focus on process understanding to advance the capture and transformation of carbon dioxide to make high value carbon materials [6], as well as optimisation of the approach to apply to green electrolytic iron production [3]. This includes development of novel anodes with high activity and stability, energetic requirements for the electrolytic approaches used, process design, product separation and purity, and engineering constraints.