A UCF researcher has created a new technology that absorbs carbon dioxide and produces useful chemicals and fuels to lessen the environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Yang Yang, an Associate Professor of Nanoscience at UCF's NanoScience Technology Center, invented a novel carbon dioxide-capturing gadget using a microsurface made of a fluorine and tin oxide layer. The apparatus then uses a bubbling electrode to extract gaseous carbon dioxide and convert it into carbon monoxide and formic acid, two crucial raw materials for the production of chemicals.
A recent study described this technology, which attempts to meet the need for alternative energy production while sustainably reducing humanity's carbon footprint.
We want to create a better technology to make our world better and cleaner. Too much carbon dioxide will have a greenhouse effect on the Earth and will heat it up very quickly. It’s the motivation for why we want to develop this new material to grab and convert it into chemicals we can use.
Yang Yang, Associate Professor and Member, Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT) Cluster, NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida
This carbon dioxide capture technology is used in chemical production plants, power plants, and other industrial settings where carbon dioxide emissions are captured and transformed into useful products.
Design Blossomed From Nature
Yang claims that nature serves as the source of inspiration for both the gadget and reducing human impact on the environment.
We as scientists always learn from nature. We want to see how the animals and the trees work. For this work, we learned from the lotus. We know that the lotus has a really hydrophobic surface, which means when you drop water on the surface, the water will go quickly away from the surface. We also know that green plants absorb carbon dioxide and convert it to oxygen through photosynthesis.
Yang Yang, Associate Professor and Member, Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT) Cluster, NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida
The lotus inspired Yang to develop carbon dioxide capture technology that imitates the lotus’ surface. This technology separates carbon dioxide conversion reactant from water that trickles down a device's artificially hydrophobic surface.
According to Yang, the amount of water on the surface of materials must be carefully controlled to avoid flooding the device or interfering with the conversion of carbon dioxide.
After being caught, the carbon dioxide gas is converted using an electrode method that is more controllable than photosynthesis, which occurs naturally.
Depending on the precise reaction pathways on the catalysts, the electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction transforms carbon dioxide gas into carbon-containing compounds like methanol, methane, ethylene, ethanol, acetate, and propanol.
We want to create a better material which can quickly grab carbon dioxide molecules from the air and convert them into chemicals. We just reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air and convert it in the liquid and gas phase so we can directly use those converted chemicals and fields for other applications.
Yang Yang, Associate Professor and Member, Renewable Energy and Chemical Transformation (REACT) Cluster, NanoScience Technology Center, University of Central Florida
Reducing the amount of water dispersed on the catalytic materials' surface when the components of gaseous carbon dioxide in the liquid electrolyte were exposed was one of the most difficult aspects of the research, said Yang.
Yang said, “If you have too much water surrounding your materials, you may produce hydrogen instead of converting carbon dioxide to chemicals. That will decrease the energy efficiency of the overall process. The materials we use can repel the water from the surface, so we can avoid the formation of hydrogen, and we can greatly enhance the carbon dioxide reduction efficiency. So that means eventually we can use almost all of the electricity for our reaction.”
Scaling Up
Planting trees and creating large-scale carbon dioxide capture technologies are just two of the numerous initiatives currently underway worldwide to reduce, capture, or convert carbon dioxide.
Yang hopes that the carbon dioxide capture and conversion device will prove to be a competitive substitute for other more expensive or time-consuming techniques.
According to Yang, utilizing ecologically friendly electricity is a further step toward bringing the carbon dioxide conversion technology to pass.
“In our process, we can use intermittent electricity, like the electricity coming from the solar panel or from the wind farm,” said Yang.
The technology is based on Yang's earlier work on energy at UCF almost three years ago, where he created new materials for fuel cells using carbon enhanced with fluorine.
According to Yang, the research is a crucial first step and a fundamental study that could open the door for more extensive carbon dioxide capture techniques.
“For this, we validated our concept from the fundamental point of view. We tested the performance in our reactors, but in the future, we want to develop a bigger prototype that can show people how quickly we can convert and reduce the carbon dioxide concentration and generate chemicals or fuels very quickly from our large-scale prototype,” concluded Yang.
Yang collaborated with the following scientists, students, and postdoctoral fellows from the Department of Chemistry, the NanoScience Technology Center, and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UCF: Lei Zhai, Zhao Li Ph.D., Shengwen Liu, David Fox Ph.D., Jinfa Chang, Guanzhi Wang Ph.D., Ao Yu, and Wei Zhang Ph.D., are among the individuals involved.
Yang also worked with Stanford University, the Eastern Institute for Advanced Study in Ningbo, China; the University of Houston; and the University of California, Berkley.
Funding for the study came from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund and the National Science Foundation in the United States.
Lotus Inspired CO2 System
Video Credit: University of Central Florida
Journal Reference:
Zhang, W., et al. (2024) Dynamic Bubbling Balanced Proactive CO2 Capture and Reduction on a Triple-Phase Interface Nanoporous Electrocatalyst. American Chemical Society. doi/10.1021/jacs.4c02786?goto=supporting-info