According to foreign media New Atlas, the humble leaf is an incredible "small machine" that converts sunlight and carbon dioxide into plant energy. The artificial version of the blade may be a useful renewable energy source, and may even be used to produce fuel. Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed an artificial blade that can produce syngas without releasing carbon dioxide.
Syngas has carbon monoxide and hydrogen as its main components, and sometimes some carbon dioxide is mixed in. Although technically, it can be burned to produce electricity or used for lighting and heating, it is usually an intermediate step in the manufacture of products (including plastics, fertilizers and diesel fuels). Unfortunately, the production of it will release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Erwin Reisner, senior author of the study, said: "You may not have heard of syngas, but every day you consume products made with syngas. Being able to produce it sustainably is an impact on the global carbon cycle and establishing sustainable chemicals and fuel Key steps in industry. "
To solve this problem, the Cambridge team developed a new artificial blade prototype that can produce syngas through photosynthesis. The new equipment contains two light absorbers made of perovskite and a cobalt catalyst. When placed in water, oxygen is produced on one side, and carbon dioxide and water are reduced to carbon monoxide and hydrogen on the other side. The latter two gases can then be combined into syngas.
The research team showed that the technology can still work even in relatively dark light, such as cloudy or rainy days. Perovskite was chosen because it is good at absorbing light and generating voltage, which is why it has recently appeared in solar panels. At the same time, compared with other materials, the cost of cobalt in the catalyst is lower and the efficiency of producing carbon monoxide is higher. However, the current conversion efficiency is still very low-the new design currently produces 0.06% hydrogen and 0.02% carbon monoxide.
The new equipment incorporates a series of artificial blade designs that are under development to create a range of useful products, such as electricity, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, and hydrogen fuel. In the end, the team hopes to be able to skip the middleman synthesis gas stage.
Reisner said: "The next step we need to do is to make carbon dioxide and water into liquid fuel, instead of making syngas and then converting it into liquid fuel. The main demand for liquid fuel is to sustainably transport heavy, Shipping and aviation power. "
The research was published in the journal Nature-Materials.
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