Researchers led by NC State University have engineered a new metalcone thin film that could transform the way we approach carbon capture, converting atmospheric CO2 into usable fuel. This innovation promises significant strides in renewable energy solutions.
Researchers led by North Carolina State University have developed an innovative material that could significantly advance technologies for converting atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuel, offering a potential breakthrough in the quest for renewable energy solutions.
The team engineered a new class of materials called metalcones, designed to transform CO2 into methanol — a liquid fuel.
“Fundamentally, the goal of this project was to engineer a surface that would allow us to efficiently convert atmospheric carbon dioxide into methanol,” corresponding author Gregory Parsons, the Celanese Acetate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at NC State, said in a news release.
Metalcones possess both organic and inorganic properties, making them uniquely suited to this task. Inorganic materials are typically solid and stable, while organic ones are more chemically reactive with sponge-like properties. Metalcones, being hybrids, offer the best of both worlds.
“We wanted to find a way to create a metalcone thin film that retains the inorganic properties that make it a good interface between a semiconductor material and the liquid environment surrounding it,” Parsons added. “But we also wanted the metalcone to maintain the organic properties that create efficient pathways for electrons to move.”
However, past efforts faced significant obstacles.
“The problem is that metalcones face a significant obstacle for practical use in this context,” added first author Hyuenwoo Yang, a postdoctoral researcher at NC State, explaining that metalcones would dissolve in aqueous solutions, rendering them useless unless thermally annealed, which then stripped away their electrochemical properties.
The research team’s breakthrough came when they discovered that annealing tincone, a specific type of metalcone, at a “mild” temperature of 250 degrees Celsius managed to stabilize the material while retaining its desirable properties.
“We found that the sweet spot was a ‘mild’ annealing at 250 degrees Celsius,” Yang added. “This made the tincone substantially more stable in an aqueous electrolyte, which is necessary for potential use in photoelectric chemical carbon dioxide reduction applications. In addition to improving its stability, the mild annealing also improved charge transport, making the electrochemical properties even more desirable for these applications.”
Next steps for the research involve binding carbon dioxide catalysts to the annealed tincone and testing its practical applications in converting atmospheric CO2 to methanol.
Co-authors include Christopher Oldham, Arun Joshi Reddy and Paul Maggard of NC State, and Carrie Donley, Renato Sampaio, John Dickenson, Pierpaolo Vecchi and Gerald Meyer of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The research, published in ACS Applied Energy Materials, marks a significant milestone in advancing renewable energy technologies. The potential of this material to contribute to more efficient carbon capture and conversion technologies could have far-reaching implications in our fight against climate change.
Source: North Carolina State University