Chemists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) propose an innovative way to achieve carbon capture using a rhenium-based electrocatalytic system that is capable of reducing low-concentration CO2(even 1%) with high selectivity and durability, which is a new potential technology to enable direct utilization of CO2in exhaust gases from heavy industries.
Scientists are closer to finding effective ways to reduce CO2levels -- a vital part of responding to climate change and energy efficiency challenges.
一项研究由Osamu Ishitani的管理artment of Chemistry, Tokyo Tech now demonstrates the advantages of applying electrocatalysis1 to capture low-concentration CO2.
In their study published inChemical Science, Ishitani and colleagues including Hiromu Kumagai and Tetsuya Nishikawa drew on decades of work on honing the capabilities of a rhenium-based catalyst, and demonstrated its ability to reduce low-concentration CO2in the presence of a chemical called triethanolamine (TEOA).
Compared to many previous studies that have focused on reducing pure CO2, few have explored how to improve direct capture of low-concentration CO2-- a topic that warrants further investigation, considering that plants harness low concentrations of CO2(about 400 ppm, that is 0.04% of the atmosphere) and exhaust gases from heavy industries typically contain low levels of CO2(around 3-13%).
By avoiding the need for additional energy-consuming condensation processes, their strategy, if scaled up, could provide a more viable, environmentally friendly solution to CO2capture in many settings.
In a series of experiments to assess electrocatalytic activity, the researchers found that at a CO2concentration of 1%, the rhenium-based catalyst showed very high selectivity (94%) towards carbon monoxide (CO) formation.
A likely reason behind the high performance, the researchers say, is the efficient insertion of CO2into the rhenium-oxygen bond.
The researchers aim to continue systematically investigating promising strategies to help reduce real-world CO2levels.
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