FUTURE GREEN POWER: SOLAR FUELS FROM CARBON DIOXIDE

Very recently, Prof. Robert H. Crabtree from Yale University: New Haven, CT, US, wrote a scientific letter on “Alternate Strategies for Solar Fuels from Carbon Dioxide” in ACS Energy Letters [1].

In his letter, he mentioned that the timing mismatch between the supply and demand for solar electricity would require energy storage, for which conversion to a storable chemical fuel is one option. Beyond that, sectors such as marine navigation, aviation, etc. may still need liquid fuels, exported from the solar facility. These might also serve as one input into a future renewable chemicals industry.

Dihydrogen is hard to store; therefore, converting CO₂ into liquids such as methanol or ethanol is a leading option and also methanation to form “solar methane”.

U. Ulmer et al., mentioned in their recent review article titled on “Fundamentals and applications of photocatalytic CO2 methanation” [2], that is one of the recent research efforts, “solar methane” can now be produced through the photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide and water to methane and oxygen. This approach could play an integral role in realizing a sustainable energy economy by closing the carbon cycle and enabling the efficient storage and transportation of intermittent solar energy within the chemical bonds of methane molecules.

Sustainable production of“synthetic” natural gas (SNG) is possible through the conversion of CO₂ and water (H₂O) into CH₄ and oxygen (O₂) using renewable energy such as sunlight.

The advantages of this approach are threefold, which are reported in Nature Communications on July 2019:

1. The infrastructure required for the storage, distribution, and use of (S)NG is already established and readily available.

2. The high energy density of SNG makes it an efficient storage medium for excess renewable energy.

3. The high abundance and relatively low cost of CO₂ and H₂O feedstocks make SNG a significantly value-added product.

A research group reviewed from some of the recent articles that the best-case solar-to-methane efficiency is 13.0% (22.5% for solar cells [3]; 90% for CO₂ capture from flue gas [4,5]; 80% for water electrolysis [6] and 80% for CO₂ methanation [7]). The most recent developments regarding the various solar methanation schemes are in Figure 1. The artificial photosynthesis and photobiorefinery are the advanced techniques for the production of solar fuels.

Figure 1. Schematic depiction of the solar methanation process and the various methods [2].

The advantages of solar methane technology:

Solar CH₄ technology could relatively seamlessly integrate into existing energy infrastructure (such as storage, pipeline, and distribution facilities) at low cost and with minimal impact on the environment and landscape.
In this regard, solar CH₄ technology seems inclined toward public acceptance, providing a strong contribution towards ameliorating global warming and relieving climate change.

The electrochemical (EC) or photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) production of H2 or synthesis gas is convenient for product separation but problematic for storage while production of MeOH makes separation somewhat harder.

Another interesting solar fuel is methyl formate:

One plausible compromise candidate is methyl formate (bp = 31 °C), which should self-separate under only slightly elevated temperature, yet be easily liquefied for storage.
Its heat of vaporization is also low (29 versus 37.6 kJ/mol for MeOH) and it is a good fuel for internal combustion engines (octane number 115) and a useful fuel additive.
In one rare case, Lucas et al. report the electroreduction of CO2 over a Cu electrocatalyst to MeOCHO as the main product [8].
MeOCHO was also the principal product in a PEC reduction of CO2 with lignin-stabilized Cu2O under a Xe−Hg lamp (300−580 nm emission) [9].

Prof. Robert H. Crabtree has mainly proposed that methyl formate act as a main solar fuel. However, conversion of methyl formate to methanol may not even be required. Because MeOCHO is recognized as an intermediate in the operation of MeOH fuel cells it is likely be a viable fuel cell substrate on its own, although methyl formate itself is not electrochemically active and initial hydrolysis to formic acid and methanol precedes electrooxidation [10]. If MeOCHO proves able to stand in for methanol in fuel applications, MeOCHO might have a wider role in a future fuel and solar energy storage economy.

The main advantage of methyl formate solar fuel:

The more volatile methyl formate may have advantages as a CO₂ reduction product in being relatively easily separated from the electrochemical (EC) or PEC product mixture, yet be relatively easy to store as a liquid and use as a fuel.

References

[1]. Crabtree, R. H. ACS Energy Lett. 5, 2505−2507 (2020).

[2]. Ulmer, U., Dingle, T., Duchesne, P. N., Morris, R. H., Tavasoli, A., Wood, T., & Ozin, G. A. Nat. Commun., (2019) 10, 3169.

[3]. Albrecht, S. & Rech, B. Nat. Energy 2, 1-2 (2017).

[4]. Veawab, A. & Aroonwilas, A. Fuel Chem. Div. Prepr. 47, 49–50 (2002).

[5]. Brethomé, F. M., Williams, N. J., Seipp, C. A. & Kidder, M. K. Nat. Energy 3, 553 – 559 (2018).

[6]. Carmo, M., Fritz, D. L., Mergel, J. & Stolten, D. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 38, 4901–4934 (2013).

[7]. Götz, M. et al. Renew. Energy 85, 1371–1390 (2016).

[8]. de Lucas-Consuegra, A., Serrano-Ruiz, J. C., Gutierrez-Guerra, N., & Valverde, J. L. Catalysts 2018, 8, 340−351.

[9]. Robatjazi, H. et al. Nat. Commun. 8, 1–9 (2017).

[10]. Abd-El-Latif, A. A. & Baltruschat, H. J. Electroanal. Chem. 662, 204−212 (2011).

Blog Written By

Dr. A. S. GANESHRAJA

National College, Thiruchirappalli

Tamilnadu, India

Blog Editors

Dr. S. Chanrasekar

Dr. K. Rajkumar

Dr. K. Vaithinathan

Comments

Electro-Organic Synthesis: Next Emerging Technique

Industrial developments, excessive energy consumption, sustainable technologies, environmental cleaning processes are major topics of political and social discourse. Current innovations are rated not only focusing on their benefit and utility but also concerning their eco-friendly approaches. The development of green technological processes is becoming more important and requires harmless energy sources. Particularly over the past decade, the severe limitations of fossil resources intensify the movement towards sustainable synthesis techniques with a strict cutback in the ecological footprint [ 1 ]. Electro-organic synthesis belongs to the synthetic organic chemistry discipline that facilities the direct use of electricity to generate valuable compounds. Hence, it is possible to transfer green aspects of sustainable energy sources to the whole production process [ 2 ]. Since the Kolbe’s discoveries of using electricity as a reagent for organic transformations over 170 years ago, ...

Designing of Corrosion Resistant Alloys via Percolation Theory

Canada and USA Scientists have reported on designing of corrosion-resistant alloys via percolation theory and published in Nature Materials on 01 February 2021. Nickel–chromium, Iron–chromium binary alloys can serve as the prototypical corrosion-resistant metals owing to its presence of a nanometre-thick protective passive oxide film. The main key criterion for good passive behavior is the passive film should be compromised via a scratch or abrasive wear that can be reformed with a little metal dissolution. This could be a principal reason for the stainless steels and other chromium containing alloys that are used for critical applications which ranges from nuclear reactor components to biomedical implants. A long-standing unanswered question in corrosion science is the unravelling of the compositional dependence of the electrochemical behavior of the alloys [ 1, 2 ]. The discovery of the family of these alloys were increased its rate with the advent of artificial intelligence, da...

AN ACT OF FACE MASK MATERIAL USED TO PROTECT US FROM SARS-COV-2

“ In the absence of a vaccine, or effective antiviral, one of our only remaining strategies for controlling COVID-19 is to physically block the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the community ” On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic [1] . In the absence of a vaccine, or effective antiviral, one of our only remaining strategies for controlling COVID-19 is to physically block the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the community. Given that COVID-19 is a respiratory illness, the most effective physical defense likely involves widespread public use of face coverings, in conjunction with other control measures [ 2 ] . Face coverings (also variously referred to as face masks, nonmedical masks, community masks or barrier masks ) function primarily in source control; capturing droplets expelled by an infected individual [3] . Figure 1. DIY masks to protect against from viruses sounds like a crazy idea. source click here In the absence of an...

Electric Vehicle: Public Health and Climate Benefits

A research team led by Daniel Peters at Northwestern University has investigated that if we introducing electrifying vehicles in the streets of the United States could annually prevent hundreds-to-thousands of premature accidental deaths.This work highlights the potential of a synergistic solution to reduce CO 2 emissions by hundreds to millions of tons annually. The estimate of economic damages induced by introducing electrifying vehicles (EV) adoption is substantial. With current infrastructure, about 25% of electrifying vehicles adoption in the US can save approximately $16.8 billion annually, has been told in the study entitled"Public Health and Climate Benefits and Trade offs of U.S. Vehicle Electrification," in GeoHealth on 13 th August 2020 [1] . Vehicle electrification in the United States could prevent hundreds to thousands of premature deaths annually while reducing carbon emissions by hundreds of millions of tons. This highlights the potential of co-beneficial...

Novel Approach of Plastic Waste to Flash Graphene

Prof. Algozeeb and his research collaboration team have investigated an novel approach of upcycling plastic waste (PW) products to flash graphene (FG). This method relies on Flash Joule Heating (FJH) to convert PW into FG. A sequential direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) flash is used in order to make a high-quality graphene. In this FJH process, they established without catalyst and works for PW mixtures that can make the process suitable for handling landfill PW. In 21 st century, PW pollution is considerable one among the various environmental issues. A very large fraction of PW ends up in the ocean, which leads to the formation of micro- and nanoplastics that threaten marine life, micro-organisms, useful bacteria, and humans. From the intense carbon footprint process, most of these synthesized plastics are used only once before dumping into landfills or water ways that terminate in the oceans. Hence, upcycling PW to higher value materials and chemicals is econ...

PROSPECTS ON PHOTOBIOREFINERY

Very recently, Prof. Dr. K. Faungnawakij and his research group have summarized a mini review report on an emerging renewable technique of Photobiorefinery . This is one of the beyond technique of Artificial Photosynthesis (AP) [1] . Despite great promises, AP technologies for solar H2 production and CO2 reduction are far uncompetitive to other promising technologies at the current stage . However, despite an enormous effort, time, and budget paid on AP-related researches throughout several decades, AP technologies have struggled to strive beyond laboratory demonstration except a very few exceptions [2] . This bitter reality makes the translation of this excellent science to practical application questionable [3] . Technoeconomic analysis shows that without achieving the aggressive technology targets, this technology will not be commercially viable. This has directed the research community towards the development of highly efficient yet expensive devices. While tremendous p...

Electromagnetic Field: Non-Chemical Water Treatment Technology

An interesting review report on “A critical review of the application of electromagnetic fields for scaling control in water systems: mechanisms, characterization, and operation” was reported by Lu Lin, Wenbin Jiang, Xuesong Xu and Pei Xu published in Nature Partner Journals Clean Water published on June 2020 [1] . Water is the precious matter in the world. source U.S. General Services Administration has interested on non-chemical water treatment technologies. It has mentioned following important points: n on-chemical technology promises to increase the period between required blow-down cycles, thus reducing water consumption , minimizes associated issues of chemical storage, handling, and disposal, and may permit on-site re-use of cooling-tower “blow-down” water as “grey water” , it promises to be life cycle cost effective based solely on the reduction in chemical costs , this technology may reduce or eliminate chemical costs, it may not reduce other contractor costs ...

Single-Atom Catalysis in Chemistry World

The recent interest on the heterogeneous single-atom catalysts (SACs) were composed of atomically dispersed active metal cen ters in catalyst research field, because of the increased atom utilization and unique catalytic properties of such materials, which differ greatly from those of conventional nano or subnano counter parts. In this case, the fabrication of SACs are challenging, especially in the case of noble metal based catalysts and many researches are ongoing in this field for the development of improved catalysts. Many chall enges have faced for the hybridization of controlling of single atoms in suitable host materials, but it has also equally opened with unique opportunities for catalyst design. SACs with atomically dispersed active metal centers on supports represent an intermediary between heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. Therefore, understanding the homogeneous catalysis prototype creates a great opportunity for designing SACs and developing related applications....

A Novel Green Synthesis of Au/TiO2 Nanocomposites

Prof. Lahiru A. Wijenayaka, Sri Lanka Institute of Nanotechnology (SLINTEC), Mahenwatte, Pitipana, Homagama, Sri Lanka and his collaboration team has reported on the interesting materials for effective environmental alternative remediation via nontoxic, low cost and eco-friendly methods dedicated to the scientific community. Here, a novel, facile, and green synthetic approach to synthesize gold nanoparticle decorated over TiO 2 (Au/TiO 2 ) nanocomposites for sustainable environmental development has been discussed [ 1 ] . Based on various metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) photocatalysts, titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is the most widely used, owing to its effective and excellent results in optical transmittance, high refractive index, chemical stability, concurrently being stable, nontoxic, and inexpensive [ 2 ]. They are highlighted with the following points: (i) Synthesis of the Au/TiO 2 nanocomposite, (ii) Microscopic characterization, (iii) Dye adsorption on Au/TiO 2 and (iv) Photoca...

Postdocs Crisis: The "Last Generation" of Scientists

Postdoctoral Researchers play a vital role in the research productivity of several countries and serving as leaders, mentors, guides, teachers, and scientists. These researchers have developed their own skills and preparing themself for their scientific research careers with various research groups worldwide. Even performing in a short term, they need to spend additional years in some special cases for succession in their research careers. Senior research investigators or leaders who have promised to their younger colleagues or students for a long term contract in the academics should find a new pathway to make it possible to stay and plan for their long-term career. Also, these investigators should be more flexible, patience, and supportive for everyone in their research groups. But the main key point which they should focus on that was the researchers who want to pursue fulfilling careers in science elsewhere need to be supported in all means, whatever matters, whoever may be, the ta...

Search This Blog