A research team from California Institute of Technology and UCLA's Samurai Institute of Technology has demonstrated a promising method for effectively converting carbon dioxide into ethylene, which can be widely used globally to produce plastics, solvents, cosmetics, and other important products.
Scientists have developed nanoscale copper wires with specially shaped surfaces to catalyze chemical reactions, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating ethylene (a valuable chemical substance). The computational study of the reaction shows that the formed catalyst is more favorable for the production of ethylene than hydrogen or methane. A detailed research progress was published in Nature Catalysis.
Yu Huang, the corresponding author of the study and a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, said, "We are on the brink of fossil fuel depletion, compounded by the challenges of global climate change." "Developing materials that can effectively convert greenhouse gases into value-added fuels and chemical raw materials is a key step in mitigating global warming while avoiding the exploitation of increasingly limited fossil fuels. This comprehensive experimental and theoretical analysis provides a sustainable path for the recycling and sustainable development of carbon dioxide. Utilization rate
At present, the annual production of ethylene worldwide is 158 million tons. Most of it has been converted into polyethylene for plastic packaging. Ethylene is processed from hydrocarbons (such as natural gas).
The idea of using copper to catalyze this reaction has been around for a long time, but the key is to speed it up and make it fast enough for industrial production, "said William A. Goddard III, the corresponding author and co-author of the study. Professors Charles and Mary Ferkel from the California Institute of Technology, specializing in chemistry, materials science, and applied physics. This study demonstrates a solid path towards this goal, with the potential to utilize carbon dioxide to transform ethylene production into green industry, otherwise carbon dioxide would eventually enter the atmosphere
The use of copper to initiate the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to ethylene reaction (C2H4) has been hit twice. Firstly, the initial chemical reaction also produced hydrogen and methane, which are undesirable in industrial production. Secondly, previous attempts to produce ethylene did not last long, and as the system continued to operate, the conversion efficiency gradually decreased.
To overcome these two obstacles, researchers have focused their efforts on the design of copper nanowires with highly active "steps," similar to a set of stairs arranged at the atomic level. An interesting finding of this collaborative study is that under reaction conditions, the step patterns across the surface of nanowires remain stable, which is contrary to the commonly believed disappearance of these high-energy features. This is the key to the durability and selectivity of the system when producing ethylene rather than other final products.
The team has demonstrated that the conversion rate of carbon dioxide to ethylene is greater than 70%, which is much more efficient than previous designs, which reduced the conversion rate by at least 10% under the same conditions. The new system has been running for 200 hours with almost no change in conversion efficiency, which is a significant advancement for copper based catalysts. In addition, a comprehensive understanding of the structure function relationship provides a new perspective for designing highly active and persistent CO2 reduction catalysts.
