Enhanced Solar Fuel Production via 3D Printed Ceramic Reactor Cores

ETH Zurich researchers have harnessed a novel 3D printing technique to craft intricate ceramic structures for solar reactors. These hierarchically ordered designs significantly increase the efficiency of solar fuel production. The solar reactor, central to this process, reaches temperatures up to 1500°C, driven by concentrated sunlight. Within, a thermochemical cycle unfolds, splitting water and CO2, yielding syngas—a blend of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This can be transformed into carbon-neutral liquid fuels like solar kerosene for aviation.

Previously, the reactor utilized isotropic porosity structures. However, their design led to exponential attenuation of incoming solar radiation, decreasing internal temperatures and thus, solar fuel yield. The newly developed structures, with channels and pores strategically narrowing toward the reactor’s rear, enable optimal absorption of the incident concentrated solar radiation. This ensures that the entire porous structure attains the critical reaction temperature of 1500°C, enhancing fuel production. The manufacturing process involves an extrusion-based 3D printing method, using a specially formulated ink, rich in ceria particles.

Tests revealed that these advanced structures can produce double the fuel compared to traditional designs under equivalent solar radiation. The technology, now patented, has been licensed to Synhelion by ETH Zurich, indicating its potential in elevating the energy efficiency of solar reactors.

ETH Zurich has published a paper on the topic, titled “Solar-​driven redox split­ting of CO2 us­ing 3D-​printed hier­arch­ic­ally chan­nelled ceria struc­tures” which you can find in Advanced Materials Interfaces journal, at this link.

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