Are you aware of the fact that the key to removing carbon dioxide pollution from the air can be sitting in your kitchen pantry? Yes, it is possible as witnessed in a surprising breakthrough. In a recent and interesting discovery researchers discover that a catalyst made from sugar can destroy carbon dioxide from the air.
Researchers from Northwestern University came up with this cheap catalyst that possesses the ability to work excellently well in CO2 destruction. This invention is a major part of carbon capture technology. This has made significant development lately, post-combustion carbon capture which seems to be a possibility to mitigate the existing global climate change problem.
The new catalyst might give one way to deal with this nifty potent greenhouse gas by splitting it into a more sought-after product.
Dr. Milad Khoshooei from North Western University who co-led the study says, “Even if we stopped emitting CO2 now, our atmosphere would still have a surplus of CO2 as a result of industrial activities from the past centuries. There is no single solution to this problem. We need to reduce CO2 emissions and find new ways to decrease the CO2 concentration that is already in the atmosphere. We should take advantage of all possible solutions.”
The senior author of the study Professor Omar K. Farha says, “We’re not the first research group to convert CO2 into another product. However, for the process to be truly practical, it necessitates a catalyst that fulfills several crucial criteria: affordability, stability, ease of production and scalability. Balancing these four elements is key. Fortunately, our material excels in meeting these requirements.“
Highlights: Sugar-based Catalyst to Destroy Carbon Dioxide
- Molybdenum Carbide, compared to other catalysts like Platinum or Palladium, is an inexpensive and abundant metal.
- The new catalyst converts CO2 to CO with 100% selectivity.
- It remains stable for over 500 hours at high temperatures up to 600°C.
- This also opened the doors for carbon capture industries to use the catalyst. This enables them to target only the CO2 in air without any degradation in stability.
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Benefits of Sugar-based Catalyst in Upcycling Carbon Dioxide
- This new catalyst proved to be successful in converting Carbon Dioxide (CO2) into Carbon Monoxide (CO). It is a widely used component for the production of a wide range of useful chemicals.
- For instance, in the presence of hydrogen, it can react and convert into synthesis gas (syngas). This further can be use to produce gasoline fuel replacements.
Potential Tandem Approach
The researchers suggest the new sugar-based catalyst could be combined with other materials, like metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Prof. Farha develops these materials in her lab for directly capturing CO2 from the air.
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“A tandem system utilizing two distinct materials for two sequential steps could be the way forward,” Prof. Farha says.
Dr. Khoshooei also added, “This could help us answer the question: ‘What do we do with captured CO2? Right now, the plan is to sequester it underground. But we wanted to design a more universal solution that can be used anywhere while adding economic value.“
With this new affordable and efficient catalyst, converting captured carbon into useful products could become a powerful tool. This could largely help in mitigating climate change and reducing atmospheric CO2 levels.
