Researcher Breakthrough Turns Carbon Dioxide Into Ethanol
According to a press release from Argonne National Laboratory, researchers at the lab, working with partners at Northern Illinois University, have discovered a new electrocatalyst that converts carbon dioxide and water into ethanol with very high energy efficiency, high selectivity for the desired final product, and low cost. Ethanol is a particularly desirable commodity because it is an ingredient in nearly all U.S. gasoline and is widely used as an intermediate product in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.
"The process resulting from our catalyst would contribute to the circular carbon economy, which entails the reuse of carbon dioxide," says Di-Jia Liu, senior chemist in Argonne's chemical sciences and engineering division and also a scientist at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. "The process resulting from our catalyst would contribute to the circular carbon economy, which entails the reuse of carbon dioxide," he says. The new electrochemical process converts carbon dioxide emitted from industrial processes, such as fossil fuel power plants or alcohol fermentation plants, into valuable commodities at reasonable cost... It breaks down carbon dioxide and water molecules and selectively reassembles them into ethanol using an external electrical field.
According to a press release from Argonne National Laboratory, researchers at the lab, working with partners at Northern Illinois University, have discovered a new electrocatalyst that converts carbon dioxide and water into ethanol with very high energy efficiency, high selectivity for the desired final product, and low cost. Ethanol is a particularly desirable commodity because it is an ingredient in nearly all U.S. gasoline and is widely used as an intermediate product in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries.
"The process resulting from our catalyst would contribute to the circular carbon economy, which entails the reuse of carbon dioxide," says Di-Jia Liu, senior chemist in Argonne's chemical sciences and engineering division and also a scientist at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. "The process resulting from our catalyst would contribute to the circular carbon economy, which entails the reuse of carbon dioxide," he says. The new electrochemical process converts carbon dioxide emitted from industrial processes, such as fossil fuel power plants or alcohol fermentation plants, into valuable commodities at reasonable cost... It breaks down carbon dioxide and water molecules and selectively reassembles them into ethanol using an external electrical field.
