Welcome
Join us in Manchester in September 2026 for this edition of the Faraday Discussion series focused on sustainable chemistry of electrofuels and electrochemicals. The Faraday Discussions are unique international discussion meetings that address current and emerging topics at the forefront of the physical sciences.This meeting is for established and early-career scientists, postgraduate students and industrial researchers working on various aspects of power-to-X technlogies.
We look forward to welcoming you to Manchester.
On behalf of the organizing committee,
Mercedes Maroto-Valer
Themes
The chemicals sector is facing a trilemma of mounting energy costs, net zero mandates, and growing global demand for sustainable products, while maintaining competitiveness, socio-economic growth and security of supply. Power-to-X (PtX) technologies can decouple manufacturing from fossil fuels, and moreover, electrochemical processes can yield a number of different products that can also be used for grid balancing. Electrofuels and electrochemicals (e-fuels and e-chemicals) require electrolytically produced hydrogen, where the electricity sources are renewables. This in turn requires co-electrolysers with high conversion and selectivity, long lifetimes and low cost, as well as sustainable sources of carbon and nitrogen for the production of a wider range of e-chemicals and e-fuels, such as aviation fuels, methanol or ammonia. This Faraday Discussion will provide a forum to discuss the latest scientific research geared at unlocking PtX solutions and challenges that remain in the quest to achieve net-zero chemical manufacturing.The Faraday Discussion will be organised into the following themes:
Power to hydrogen
Transitioning to a hydrogen-based energy system is a key pathway to achieve industrial decarbonisation. However, there is a grown consensus amongst hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as the chemical industry, that prior to investment, they need to be able to test and validate hydrogen and PtX technologies.
This session will focus on:
- Overcoming overpotentials, energy losses and mass transfer limitations for electrolysers
- Understanding catalyst stability (HER and OER reactions) for improving performance and reliability of electrolysers
- Development of novel water electrolysis components: membranes, electrodes, gas diffusion layers
- Improving solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiencies, e.g. high-efficiency photoelectrodes integrating light absorption with catalysis
- Optimisation of electronic and ionic conductivity with catalytic activity, considering thermodynamic limitations and operating conditions (temperature and pressure)
Power-to-X-based e-fuels is a key strategy for defossilise the transport sector while using existing infrastructure, e.g. e-methane, e-methanol and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). The traditional synthesis processes for these hydrocarbons are well established for syngas generated from fossil fuels. Alternatively, processes based on using CO2 require the conversion of CO2 to CO in a separate process or the development of direct conversion technologies using hydrogen and CO2.
This session will focus on:
- Understanding the chemistry of the electrolysis cells, e.g. solid oxide electrolysis cells for CO2/H2O conversion to CO/H2 (cathode) and O2 (anode) to prevent degradation in order to extend the life of cells
- Increasing efficiency and selectivity of CO2 conversion:
- Intensifying reactive chemistry (e.g. high-power plasmas) for higher conversions to hydrocarbons
- Development of novel multifunction catalyst for e-SAF production
- Mechanistic insights of new catalysts (e.g. multi-step reactions, plasma catalysis, etc) for key reactions, such as dry methane reforming and the reverse water gas shift reaction
- Structural dynamics of catalysts to identify their mechanism and optimise temperature and pressure operation conditions
Green ammonia can be produced via the Haber-Bosch process using sustainable electricity, N2 separated from the air and H2 from water electrolysis. This can then open opportunities as a net-zero fuel for the maritime industry, green fertilisers and energy storage. However, there are challenges around ammonia production, fuel flexibility (combustion chemistry), emissions and energy use that need to be addressed.
This session will focus on:
- Identification of catalysts operating at milder temperature and pressure conditions, to overcome thermodynamic limitations and kinetic challenges, e.g. utilising density functional theory (DFT) to substitute iron-based catalysts.
- Reducing energy losses for power-to-ammonia
- Reducing transient changes of catalyst activity in electrolysis coupled Haber-Bosch process, e.g. dynamic thermal measures to achieve higher conversions and avoid hotspots
- Combustion properties of ammonia and hydrocarbon blends (e.g. flame characterization, soot formation, emissions, etc.), including instrumentation for combustion analysis.
There are a number of environmental challenges associated with the transition to e-fuels and e-chemicals, including availability of water resources, and supply and utilisation of critical materials, as well as potential environmental impacts of new technologies, such as hydrogen leaks and safety implications. Here, we will explore the role of chemistry in addressing these challenges.
This session will explore:
- Understanding reaction kinetics impacts on Life cycle assessment (LCA) results
- Physical chemistry to guide sustainable processes, including design of more efficient and environmentally friendly catalysts
- Understanding chemical reactions in the atmosphere associated with emissions from e-fuels
- Chemical degradation routes of e-chemicals.
