IU chemists create molecular ‘leaf’ that collects and stores solar power without solar panels
An international team of scientists led by Liang-shi Li at Indiana University has achieved a new milestone in the quest to recycle carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere into carbon-neutral fuels and others materials.
The chemists have engineered a molecule that uses light or electricity to convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide — a carbon-neutral fuel source — more efficiently than any other method of “carbon reduction.”
The process is reported today in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
“If you can create an efficient enough molecule for this reaction, it will produce energy that is free and storable in the form of fuels,” said Li, associate professor in the IU Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry. “This study is a major leap in that direction.”
Burning fuel — such as carbon monoxide — produces carbon dioxide and releases energy. Turning carbon dioxide back into fuel requires at least the same amount of energy. A major goal among scientists has been decreasing the excess energy needed.
This is exactly what Li’s molecule achieves: requiring the least amount of energy reported thus far to drive the formation of carbon monoxide. The molecule — a nanographene-rhenium complex connected via an organic compound known as bipyridine — triggers a highly efficient reaction that converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide.
The ability to efficiently and exclusively create carbon monoxide is significant due to the molecule’s versatility.
“Carbon monoxide is an important raw material in a lot of industrial processes,” Li said. “It’s also a way to store energy as a carbon-neutral fuel since you’re not putting any more carbon back into the atmosphere than you already removed. You’re simply re-releasing the solar power you used to make it.”
The secret to the molecule’s efficiency is nanographene — a nanometer-scale piece of graphite, a common form of carbon (i.e. the black “lead” in pencils) — because the material’s dark color absorbs a large amount of sunlight.
Li said that bipyridine-metal complexes have long been studied to reduce carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide with sunlight. But these molecules can use only a tiny sliver of the light in sunlight, primarily in the ultraviolet range, which is invisible to the naked eye. In contrast, the molecule developed at IU takes advantage of the light-absorbing power of nanographene to create a reaction that uses sunlight in the wavelength up to 600 nanometers — a large portion of the visible light spectrum.
Essentially, Li said, the molecule acts as a two-part system: a nanographene “energy collector” that absorbs energy from sunlight and an atomic rhenium “engine” that produces carbon monoxide. The energy collector drives a flow of electrons to the rhenium atom, which repeatedly binds and converts the normally stable carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide.
The idea to link nanographene to the metal arose from Li’s earlier efforts to create a more efficient solar cell with the carbon-based material. “We asked ourselves: Could we cut out the middle man — solar cells — and use the light-absorbing quality of nanographene alone to drive the reaction?” he said.
Next, Li plans to make the molecule more powerful, including making it last longer and survive in a non-liquid form, since solid catalysts are easier to use in the real world. He is also working to replace the rhenium atom in the molecule — a rare element — with manganese, a more common and less expensive metal.
Learn more: IU chemists create molecular ‘leaf’ that collects and stores solar power without solar panels
[osd_subscribe categories=’carbon-dioxide-to-fuel’ placeholder=’Email Address’ button_text=’Subscribe Now for any new posts on the topic “CARBON DIOXIDE TO FUEL”‘]
Receive an email update when we add a new CARBON DIOXIDE TO FUEL article.
The Latest on: Carbon dioxide to fuel
[google_news title=”” keyword=”carbon dioxide to fuel” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Carbon dioxide to fuel
- Towards Carbon Neutrality: New Catalyst Converts Carbon Dioxide to Renewable Fuelon May 8, 2024 at 1:51 am
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a catalyst material known as cobalt phthalocyanine that converts carbon dioxide–a significant driver of climate change–into renewable fuels ...
- Opportunity to Offset Travel Emissions with Carbon Credits that Meet HBS Criteriaon May 7, 2024 at 11:14 am
Calyx Global was rated the best carbon credit rating agency by Carbon Market Watch, is used by other large companies like Meta and Salesforce, and was recommended by Harvard’s Office for ...
- The CO2 Coalition, a source of climate change misinformation in Pa., wants us to love carbon dioxideon May 7, 2024 at 2:00 am
Carbon dioxide is a “miracle molecule” that fuels all life on Earth. That’s the message a group downplaying the threat of climate change has been spreading to Pennsylvania conservatives. “I love CO2,“ ...
- Nanoparticle catalysts convert carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide to make useful compoundson May 6, 2024 at 9:16 am
As a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) contributes to climate change as it accumulates in the atmosphere. One way to reduce the amount of unwanted CO2 in the atmosphere is to convert the gas into a ...
- A leap toward carbon neutrality: New catalyst converts carbon dioxide to methanolon May 6, 2024 at 8:59 am
Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a catalyst material known as cobalt phthalocyanine that converts carbon dioxide—a significant driver of climate change—into renewable fuels ...
- The science of capturing carbon dioxideon May 6, 2024 at 5:30 am
Carbon dioxide can be converted into useful elements, which could help fight the threat of a greenhouse effect.
- Sugar-based catalyst upcycles carbon dioxideon May 2, 2024 at 3:21 pm
New catalyst is made from an inexpensive, abundant metal and table sugar. Catalyst converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide, a building block for producing a variety of useful chemicals ...
- Why LanzaJet thinks sustainable jet fuel is ready to take off in Chicagoon May 2, 2024 at 10:34 am
The U.S. has set a goal to produce 3 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) annually by 2030. Thus far this year 14 million gallons have been produced. LanzaJet CEO Jimmy Samartzis thinks ...
- Airlines, manufacturers form Sustainable Aviation Fuel Coalition to advance industryon May 1, 2024 at 9:44 am
Airlines, manufacturers, trade groups and others are teaming up to tackle sustainable aviation fuel challenges.
via Bing News