An artificial, bio-inspired leaf. Carbon dioxide (red and black balls) enter the leaf as water (white and red balls) evaporates from the bottom of the leaf. An artificial photosystem (purple circle at the center of the leaf) made of a light absorber coated with catalysts converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide and converts water to oxygen (shown as double red balls) using sunlight. (Image: Meenesh Singh).
Artificial leaves mimic photosynthesis — the process whereby plants use water and carbon dioxide from the air to produce carbohydrates using energy from the sun. But even state-of-the-art artificial leaves, which hold promise in reducing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, only work in the laboratory because they use pure, pressurized carbon dioxide from tanks.
But now, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have proposed a design solution that could bring artificial leaves out of the lab and into the environment. Their improved leaf, which would use carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — from the air, would be at least 10 times more efficient than natural leaves at converting carbon dioxide to fuel. Their findings are reported in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.
“So far, all designs for artificial leaves that have been tested in the lab use carbon dioxide from pressurized tanks. In order to implement successfully in the real world, these devices need to be able to draw carbon dioxide from much more dilute sources, such as air and flue gas, which is the gas given off by coal-burning power plants,” said Meenesh Singh, assistant professor of chemical engineering in the UIC College of Engineering and corresponding author on the paper.
Unhooking the pressurized carbon dioxide supply from these leaves means that they must have a way to collect and concentrate carbon dioxide from the air to drive their artificial photosynthetic reactions.
Singh and his colleague Aditya Prajapati, a graduate student in his lab, proposed solving this problem by encapsulating a traditional artificial leaf inside a transparent capsule made of a semi-permeable membrane of quaternary ammonium resin and filled with water. The membrane allows water from inside to evaporate out when warmed by sunlight. As water passes out through the membrane, it selectively pulls in carbon dioxide from the air. The artificial photosynthetic unit inside the capsule is made up of a light absorber coated with catalysts that convert the carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, which can be siphoned off and used as a basis for the creation of various synthetic fuels. Oxygen is also produced and can either be collected or released into the surrounding environment.
“By enveloping traditional artificial leaf technology inside this specialized membrane, the whole unit is able to function outside, like a natural leaf,” Singh said.
According to their calculations, 360 leaves, each 1.7 meters long and 0.2 meters wide, would produce close to a half-ton of carbon monoxide per day that could be used as the basis for synthetic fuels. Three hundred and sixty of these artificial leaves covering a 500-meter square area would be able to reduce carbon dioxide levels by 10 percent in the surrounding air within 100 meters of the array in one day.
“Our conceptual design uses readily available materials and technology, that when combined can produce an artificial leaf that is ready to be deployed outside the lab where it can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” Singh said.
Learn more: Moving artificial leaves out of the lab and into the air
The Latest on: Artificial leaf
via Google News
The Latest on: Artificial leaf
- Here's why floating caterpillars are all over San Antonio right nowon April 13, 2021 at 11:42 am
They inch up when they walk and if disturbed will drop from trees on a silk strand, which make them appear to be floating. Oak leaf rollers also drop from silk strands and are green in color, but have ...
- 25 Best Cities in the US to Own an Electric Caron April 13, 2021 at 6:00 am
Electric cars are coming down the road. Volvo recently announced that it will sell only electric cars beginning in 2030. In a move that will have even a greater impact on the automotive industry, ...
- Let us now praise tiny antson April 9, 2021 at 9:00 pm
(For Oecophylla smaragdina, or weaver ants, long legs serve a different purpose: spanning gaps in the tree canopy as they construct nests of leaves and silk.) Leaf-cutter ants look fierce, their ...
- Decellularized Spinach Serves as an Edible Platform for Growing Artificial Meaton April 5, 2021 at 3:34 am
The veiny skeleton of a spinach leaf shows for the first time it can support the growth of artificial meat, a Boston College researcher reports. Spinach, a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly ...
- The seven best garden and balcony privacy screens, from panels to plantson March 29, 2021 at 8:11 am
Cover up crumbling walls and fences or screen off less attractive parts of your outdoor space with this expanding artificial leaf trellis from Wayfair. It can also be used to add a touch of cheery ...
- MIT professor touts first 'practical' artificial leaf, signs deal with Tata to show up real plantson March 27, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Debut of the first practical "artificial leaf" ANAHEIM, March 27, 2011 - Scientists today claimed one of the milestones in the drive for sustainable energy - development of the first practical ...
- Artificial 'Leaf' Creates Clean Gason March 22, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Researchers have found a way to create a widely-used gas currently derived from fossil fuels by using more environmentally friendly “artificial leaf” technology, they said. A team at the University of ...
- 9 of the best artificial plants for brightening up your homeon March 19, 2021 at 10:50 pm
This artificial fiddle leaf fig tree is a hassle-free way of providing your home with some greenery. £49.50 from M&S This faux fig tree is the tallest plant in this roundup, so if you're looking ...
- New Artificial Leaf Design Could Absorb Far More CO2on February 13, 2019 at 10:06 am
They propose placing a traditional artificial leaf inside a water-filled capsule constructed out of a semi-permeable membrane. When the sunlight warms the water, it evaporates through the membrane.
- 'Artificial Leaf' Reaches Best Level Of Solar Energy Efficiency Yeton August 19, 2015 at 1:41 pm
The latest advancement in the artificial leaf comes from Monash University in Melbourne and brings us another step closer to a commercially viable method of turning water into fuel. Instead of ...
via Bing News