new direction of clearing the greenhouse gas: converting carbon dioxide into solid carbon at room temperature

The demand for energy is increasing, and excessive consumption of fossil fuels has brought severe environmental pollution and energy crisis. Turning solar energy into clean energy has become a key issue in the field of chemical and biological research. The biggest difficulty lies in how to use the rich solar energy to re-circulate the excess carbon dioxide generated during the energy utilization process into stable, storable, high-energy chemicals to solve the greenhouse effect.

Photosensitive protein removes carbon dioxide

Previously, some scientists have proposed a solution to turn greenhouse gases into treasures and use new light-sensitive proteins to make CO₂ run away. This light-sensitive protein catalyst has many advantages: no heavy metals; it is easy to introduce various organisms; and it has significant expansion ability through rational design or directed evolution. Therefore, PSP has the potential to photo-sensitize a variety of chemical transformations, and the fields involved are also diverse, such as solar energy conversion, photobiology, environmental remediation, and industrial biology.

Conversion of carbon dioxide to solid carbon

However, compared to light-sensitive proteins to remove carbon dioxide, the following scheme seems to be easier to implement. Australian researchers have announced that they have invented a new carbon capture technology that converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into solid carbon at room temperature. This breakthrough is expected to provide new solutions for the safe removal of greenhouse gases.

Current carbon capture and storage methods primarily compress carbon dioxide into a liquid state and then transport it to a suitable location for burial. However, this method faces engineering cost and technical challenges in industrial applications and needs to consider the risk of leakage. Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia believe that carbon converted to solids by carbon dioxide may be a more sustainable solution.

The researcher at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Dr. Isilif Zardh, said that the new technology now uses liquid metal as a catalyst to achieve the lasting effective conversion of carbon dioxide in the air to solid carbon at room temperature for the first time. The generated solid carbon can be used as an electrode material for future electric vehicles because it can store electric charge.

The researchers designed a liquid metal catalyst whose properties allow it to be superabsorbed while catalyzing the surface. In the experiment, the researchers continuously injected carbon dioxide into the beaker containing the electrolyte solution, then put a small amount of this liquid metal catalyst and put in the current, the carbon dioxide was slowly converted into a carbon sheet, and then separated from the liquid metal surface, continuous production of solid carbon. Isilifel Zadeh said that this liquid metal can be recycled and therefore does not pollute the environment.

Researchers say that while more research is needed, this new carbon capture technology has taken a critical step toward solid-state storage of carbon dioxide.

Edited by Suzhou Yacoo Science Co., Ltd.