The new solar cells produce usable energy-dense fuel, which could help address challenges linked with the burning of other kinds of hydrocarbons such as oil, gasoline and coal.
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The scientists have methods of converting carbon monoxide into methanol which is a fuel source.
So far the team has created a working prototype of the device on a small scale, using artificial sunlight and a direct source of Carbon dioxide to study and optimize the chemical process, said Salehi-Khojin, who said a provisional patent has been filed for the technology.
In their device, solar cells instead of converting sunlight into electricity, works on the lines of the work done by plants by converting atmospheric carbon dioxide into fuel. The new system will function just like a plant, by using only the sun rays and the carbon dioxide that is available in the air. However, instead of converting fuel into sugar, the “artificial leaf” delivers synthetic gas, or “syngas”, which is a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide.
And so, it should be cause for cheer that scientists from the University of IL at Chicago (UIC) have created a solar cell that converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into a usable fuel. The key, they say, is to discover a new type of catalyst that can turn atmospheric Carbon dioxide into burnable fuels in an efficient and affordable way. Chemist Larry Curtiss, from the Argonne National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, and colleagues, however, used a metal compound called tungsten diselenide as a catalyst that can convert carbon dioxide into usable fuel.
Scientists created an artificial leaf containing a duo of solar cells that carry out a much more complicated version of the electrolysis process involved with photosynthesis.
Now, nearly a year later, another innovation comes out of Chicago to suggest a similar reaction: A solar cell that sucks the Carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere while also generating hydrocarbon fuel. By pairing them with an unconventional ionic liquid that served as the electrolyte inside a two-compartment, three-electrode electrochemical cell, one particular TMDC – nanoflake tungsten diselenide – proved to be a quality catalyst. Experiments revealed that this new catalyst is about a thousand times faster than traditional catalysts, and 20 times cheaper. The basic hindrance in this was that carbon dioxide is chemically non-reactive and inert.
When light strikes the “leaf”, hydrogen and carbon monoxide bubble from the cathode, while free oxygen and hydrogen ions are released from the anode.
It is hoped the technology can be scaled for use in solar farms and Salehi-Khojin even believes it could be used on Mars where the atmosphere is mostly made up of carbon dioxide.
The research received praise from Robert McCabe, a program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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“We report a transition metal dichalcogenide nanoarchitecture for catalytic electrochemical CO2 conversion to carbon monoxide (CO) in an ionic liquid”.
