Lutong Lu's stay at the Helmholtz Center Hereon and his research

Our PhD student Lutong Lu stayed at the Helmholtz Center Hereon for his research and now, after finishing his stay there, he told us a little bit about it:

"I am working on the electron swing DAC system, where reducing the material costs for the electrode is crucial to enhance the potential commercialization of this technology. I am therefore grateful for the opportunity to receive funding from DACStorE for a research transfer stay and collaborate with Dr. Prokopios Georgopanos' team, which specializes in polymer chemistry.", he says.

Lutong said that during a 7-week stay at the Helmholtz Center Hereon, the focus was on a transfer project to study the reaction kinetics and explore different methods for polymerizing vinyl-ferrocene, which is used as a counter electrode in CO₂ adsorption. He mentioned that the commercial version of this polymer is typically about eight times more expensive per gram than its monomer. By optimizing the polymerization process in the lab, however, they found it was still much cheaper to produce the polymer in-house, even after including energy, labor, and material costs.

He added:

"We explored different synthesis methods, including free radical, anionic, and RAFTG polymerization, and with the support of Emil Pashayev, we simulated the reaction kinetics to determine the optimal conditions for free radical polymerization to synthesize poly(vinyl-ferrocene). This allowed us to successfully use RAFT polymerization under these conditions, achieving a more desirable molar mass distribution."

He further noted that the next step involves scaling up the production of this polymer. In his follow-up research stay next year, he plans to focus on optimizing the synthesis of a redox-active anthraquinone polymer, which will be used as the solid adsorbent for CO₂ capture.

We wish him many more opportunities for research stays like this, and the best of luck with his research!