Novel Catalyst Can Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Gasoline 1,000 Times More Efficiently Than Existing Methods

Scientists have been trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reverse the proliferation of greenhouse gases to save the planet. Science Alert reported that engineers from Stanford University led by chemical engineer Matteo Cargnello are turning carbon dioxide into other useful chemicals, such as butane, propane, and other hydrocarbon fuels made up of long chains of hydrocarbons.

Assistant Professor Cargnello said they had developed a way to create gasoline from captured carbon dioxide that involved capturing the longest chain of hydrocarbons consisting of eight to 12 carbon atoms.

New Catalyst Took Seven Years to Create

Cargnello and his colleagues at Stanford created a new catalyst that will increase the production of long-chain hydrocarbons at 1,000 times more efficiently than the standard catalyst given the same amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, heat, pressure, and time.

According to Phys.org, the new catalyst is composed of ruthenium coated in a thin layer of plastic. Ruthenium is less expensive than other high-quality catalysts, such as platinum and palladium. The new catalyst can speed up chemical reactions without getting used up in the process.

In their paper, titled "Steering CO2 Hydrogenation Toward C-C Coupling to Hydrocarbons Using Porous Organic Polymer/Metal Interfaces," published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), researchers wrote that it took them seven years to discover and create the perfect catalyst.

They explained that the longer the hydrocarbon chain is, the more challenging it was to develop and more expensive and intensive because it required heat and great pressure. Cargnello said that the new catalyst's ability to produce gasoline is a breakthrough.

Gasoline is liquid at room temperature, making it easier for scientists to handle. Cargnello and his colleagues are working on making liquid fuels from captured carbon dioxide and turning them into fuel. Then once burned, it becomes carbon dioxide again that will begin a new cycle of turning it into gasoline.

The Secret Behind the Catalyst's Remarkable Reactivity

Lead student author Chenshuang Zhou, a doctoral candidate in Cargnello's lab, said in the university's news release that the secret behind the remarkable increase in reactivity is the layer of porous plastic on the ruthenium. He explained that the uncoated catalyst only produces methane, which is the shortest hydrocarbon chain and is not even considered a chain given how short it is.

Moreover, hydrogen could cover the uncoated catalyst too much to the point that it limits the ability of the carbon to find other carbon atoms to bond with. On the other hand, the porous polymer could control the carbon-to-hydrogen ratio so scientists can create longer carbon chains and demonstrate crucial interaction using synchrotron techniques.

Cargnello said that these long-chain hydrocarbons are still in the process of being perfect. They are currently working on other catalysts and similar processes that convert carbon dioxide into useful industrial compounds that can sequester carbon without returning the greenhouse gas to the skies.

He said that if they can make olefins from carbon dioxide into plastics, that means they have successfully sequestered carbon without returning carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

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