Scientists around the world are working double time to combat global warming in many ways. This is after majority of the world signed the Paris Climate Agreement, which targets the restriction of global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Some scientists are focused on developing preventive measures on the use of fossil fuels, while others are reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
There is a recent development with the latter: researchers have successfully created a crystal that can turn thin air into fuel by extracting carbon dioxide.
One of the researchers said that the material, which is activated by light, was a “critical step” towards making a high-value fuel while at the same time reducing the amount of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
Photo via Climate Central
From carbon dioxide, they were able to convert it into carbon monoxide, which can be used as a source of energy. The material is a spongy nickel-organic photocatalyst which produces high-value multi-carbon fuel using solar energy.
It is said that the nickel-organic photocatalyst used have similar properties with metal-organic frameworks or MOFs. MOFs are regarded to have great potential as a material, with the blend of metal and carbon able to soak up poisonous gases, create water from air, and store the hydrogen fuel in the future.
“The world right now is in need of innovative ways to create alternatives to fossil fuels, and to stem the levels of excessive carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,” said Professor Haimei Zheng from the US Energy Department and the University of California, Berkeley.
“Converting carbon dioxide to fuels using solar energy is a global research endeavor,” she said.
Zheng further revealed that their process is able to produce almost 100% carbon monoxide, with no other gases like hydrogen and methane in it.
“That’s a big deal,” she underscored. “In carbon dioxide reduction, you want to come away with one product, not a mix of different things. Complete suppression of the competing hydrogen evolution during a photocatalytic carbon-dioxide-to-carbon-monoxide conversion had not been achieved before our work.”
Source: Independent UK
