Current methods of capturing and releasing carbon are expensive and so energy-intensive they often require, counterproductively, the use of fossil fuels.
Current methods of capturing and releasing carbon are expensive and so energy-intensive they often require, counterproductively, the use of fossil fuels. Taking inspiration from plants, Cornell researchers have assembled a chemical process that can power carbon capture with an energy source that’s abundant, clean and free: sunlight.
The research could vastly improve current methods of carbon capture – an essential strategy in the fight against global warming – by lowering costs and net emissions.
In the study, published May 9 in Chem, researchers found that they can separate carbon dioxide from industrial sources by mimicking the mechanisms plants use to store carbon, using sunlight to make a stable enol molecule reactive enough to “grab” the carbon. They also used sunlight to drive an additional reaction that can then release the carbon dioxide for storage or reuse. It’s the first light-powered separation system for both carbon capture and release. Graduate student Bayu Ahmad, M.S. ’23, is first author.
“From a chemistry standpoint, this is totally different than what anybody else is doing in carbon capture,” said senior author Phillip Milner, associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. “The whole mechanism was Bayu’s idea, and when he originally showed it to me, I thought it would never work. It totally works.”
Read more at Cornell University
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