Chinese scientists develop electrolyte system that absorbs environmental CO2 while obtaining reusable raw materials
A China-led team of scientists may have found an answer to scientists' decades-long quest: how to convert carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and tackle climate change at the same time. The news was reported by SCMP .
Conversion systems designed to harness the greenhouse gas – the No. 1 cause of global warming – have so far struggled to function for an extended period of time, making them impractical outside the laboratory, but researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology ( HUST) of Wuhan have announced a breakthrough, with an electrolysis system capable of converting carbon into formic acid with an efficiency of over 93%.
The system is capable of running continuously for at least 5,000 hours, much longer than any other device being researched.
According to Xia Baoyu, study leader and professor at HUST's School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, this feat could mark "a milestone towards industrial use." Formic acid, in turn, can be transformed into other organic chemical components or used as fuel in fuel cells, or even be used directly in agriculture.
The results of the study, a collaboration between researchers from institutions including HUST, the University of Science and Technology of China and the University of Auckland, were published in the journal Nature on January 31.
The process involves breaking the chemical bonds of carbon dioxide and then adding hydrogen to produce several valuable hydrocarbons, such as formic acid, methanol, ethanol, alkanes, and olefins. The electrolyte, which is the key agent used in this electrolysis process, has always been an alkaline raw material, but the drawback is that chemical reactions often produce unwanted byproducts, such as carbonates. These attach to electrolysis equipment in the form of precipitates, having a significant impact on the efficiency and lifespan of the equipment.
“These efforts fail to translate science into applicable technology because they have poor stability and can only work for a few hundred hours in the laboratory,” Xia said. After extensive research, scientists have found a number of solutions, including the development of a catalyst that is highly efficient in conversion and less susceptible to corrosion.
Another interesting aspect is that With an innovative idea the system manages to directly exploit exhausted lead batteries, managing to carry out the hydrolytic activity in an acidic environment resulting from this type of accumulators. Normally this type of reaction is very unstable, but Chinese researchers have managed to make it stable with a new type of electrolyte. So the process not only absorbs carbon dioxide from the air and turns it into industrially usable chemicals, but helps recycle otherwise very dangerous and toxic batteries.
According to the research team, this new solution could help companies with high CO2 emissions to decarbonise.
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The article Chinese scientists develop electrolyte system that absorbs environmental CO2 obtaining reusable raw materials comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/scienziati-cinesi-sviluppano-sistema-elettrolitico-che-assorbe-la-co2-ambientale-ottenendo-materie-prime-riutilizzabili/ on Sun, 18 Feb 2024 09:07:19 +0000.