From emission to fuel generation: Scientists convert carbon dioxide to fuel through silica
Every year, humans advance climate change and global warming by injecting about 30 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere.
A team of scientists from the University of Toronto (U of T) believes they’ve found a way to convert all these emissions into energy-rich fuel in a carbon-neutral cycle that uses a very abundant natural resource: silicon. Silicon, readily available in sand, is the seventh most-abundant element in the universe and the second most-abundant element in the earth’s crust.
The scientists note that silicon nanocrystals tick all the criteria to convert gaseous carbon dioxide. At 3.5 nanometers, these nanocrystals has the ability for optically absorb and harvest near-infrared, visible and ultraviolet waves from the sun. Also, its surface has a chemical-reducing agent that could turn carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide, potentially resulting into energy sans harmful emissions.
“A chemistry solution to climate change requires a material that is a highly active and selective catalyst to enable the conversion of carbon dioxide to fuel. It also needs to be made of elements that are low cost, non-toxic and readily available,” told Geoffrey Ozin from the University
of Toronto and lead of the university’s Solar Fuels Research.There have been numerous research in the past decades that aim to discover a material that could convert energy directly from carbon dioxide, water and the sun, but the problem is carbon dioxide’s chemical stability, which makes it harder for scientists to come up with a solution.
Now, with this new discovery, Ozin explains that the process of utilizing the ability of silicon nanocrystals or nanosctructure hydrides offers a promising way of harnessing energy from sunlight. He believes that despite the bad reputation of carbon dioxide, it is still “an asset, not a liability.”
“Why not use it as much as you can? You could build a global economy on a resource that’s all around us. And if you happen to use gigatons every year, then you could keep atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at sustainable levels indefinitely,” Ozin said via U of T Magazine.
