DGIST researchers are getting closer to developing a material that delivers a one-two punch: recycling atmospheric carbon dioxide for the production of cleaner hydrocarbon fuels.
DGIST researchers are getting closer to developing a material that delivers a one-two punch: recycling atmospheric carbon dioxide for the production of cleaner hydrocarbon fuels.
Copper and platinum nanoparticles added to the surface of a blue titania photocatalyst significantly improve its ability to recycle atmospheric carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuels.
The modified photocatalyst was developed and tested by researchers at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), with colleagues in Korea, Japan, and the US. It converted sunlight to fuel with an efficiency of 3.3% over 30-minute periods. This ‘photoconversion efficiency’ is an important milestone, the researchers report in their study published in the journal Energy and Environmental Science, as it means that large-scale use of this technology is becoming a more realistic prospect.
Photocatalysts are semiconducting materials that can use the energy from sunlight to catalyse a chemical reaction. Scientists are investigating their use to trap harmful carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as one of many means to alleviate global warming. Some photocatalysts are being tested for their ability to recycle carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuels like methane, the main component found in natural gas. Methane combustion releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere compared to other fossil fuels, making it an attractive alternative. But scientists have been finding it difficult to manufacture photocatalysts that produce a large enough yield of hydrocarbon products for their use to be practical.
Read more at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology)
Image: Professor Su-il In in the DGIST Department of Energy Science & Engineering (Credit: ©DGIST)
