{"id":3805,"date":"2022-03-03T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-03T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=3805"},"modified":"2022-02-17T10:44:24","modified_gmt":"2022-02-17T10:44:24","slug":"this-fake-leaf-can-capture-more-carbon-than-other-similar-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/this-fake-leaf-can-capture-more-carbon-than-other-similar-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"This “Fake Leaf” Can Capture More Carbon Than Other Similar Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world is in a race against time to reduce its carbon footprint<\/em>\u2014that is, the total amount of carbon-based emissions we put out that often prove detrimental to our planet\u2019s sustainability and survival. We\u2019ve launched and developed several key technologies that can either limit the greenhouse gases that we put out or find a way to keep the greenhouses gases we already have locked away\u2014and this new \u201cartificial leaf\u201d from University of Illinois Chicago<\/a> (UIC) researchers may be one of our best answers for carbon capture<\/a> to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it\u2019s not a \u201cleaf\u201d per se\u2014it\u2019s moreso a way for us to emulate what happens in a plant that lets it stay alive: converting carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) to energy. Essentially, scientists are trying to recreate the process of photosynthesis, albeit in a more distilled sense. What these UIC researchers have done, however, is quite a novel take on the artificial leaf; they tweaked a design they achieved back in 2019<\/a>, and managed to improve its performance. The 2019 research was published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering<\/em><\/a>; this new take, however, was published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The artificial design created by the University of Illinois Chicago researchers aim to emulate the photosynthetic process that happens within leaves; here, an artificial \u201cphotosystem\u201d can convert carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) that it comes into contact with, changing it to carbon monoxide (CO) while water (H2<\/sub>O) is converted to oxygen (O). (Singh, 2019)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The work by the UIC research team builds upon earlier theoretical designs dating as far back as 2019, which involved a catalyst-coated light absorber\u2014the \u201cartificial leaf,\u201d so to speak\u2014that can convert CO2<\/sub> into carbon monoxide (CO). This light absorber would then be placed inside a semi-permeable transparent capsule made out of quaternary ammonium resin<\/em>, which was then filled with water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept goes that when the capsule is heated by light, water evaporates through the membrane of the capsule, which then pulls CO2<\/sub> from the air. This feeds the light absorber inside the capsule, which then converts CO2<\/sub> to CO while at the same time converting water to oxygen gas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, this recent study actually had the researchers set out to test their concept using a standard artificial leaf system. They modified the said system with cheap materials, thereby creating a water gradient<\/em> across an electrically-charged membrane where only one side will ever come into contact with water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The new design for the artificial leaf system involved the application of a water gradient across the charged membrane; here, one side will always be dry, while the other will always touch water. (Prajapati\/UIC, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In this setup, the \u201cdry\u201d side will actually be exposed to a dry organic solution; this solution will absorb CO2<\/sub> coming in, forming bicarbonate ions within the solution. These ions then move across the electrically-charged membrane as the ions are attracted to the positively-charged electrode on the \u201cwet\u201d side of the setup. From there, the water dissolves the bicarbonate ions back into CO2<\/sub>, which can then either be released or harnessed as fuel. The entire process can be sped up by applying an electrical charge through the membrane, speeding up the transfer process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Study co-author Rohan Sartape poses with the newly-developed artificial leaf design inside the laboratory of his co-author, chemical engineering assistant professor Meenesh Singh. (Young\/UIC, 2022)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This setup granted the team a high flux<\/em> of carbon capture that\u2019s 100 times higher than that of other known systems at the time of writing, while needing less energy than the amount required to power a 1-W LED lightbulb, according to the UIC press release<\/a>. They also computed the carbon capture to cost roughly US$ 145 per ton of CO2<\/sub> absorbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur artificial leaf system can be deployed outside the lab, where it has the potential to play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere thanks to its high rate of carbon capture, relatively low cost and moderate energy, even when compared to the best lab-based systems,\u201d said corresponding author and UIC College of Engineering<\/a> assistant professor of chemical engineering Meenesh Singh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singh added: \u201cIt\u2019s particularly exciting that this real-world application of an electrodialysis-driven artificial leaf had a high flux with a small, modular surface area. […] This means that it has the potential to be stackable; the modules can be added or subtracted to more perfectly fit the need and affordably used in homes and classrooms, not just among profitable industrial organizations. A small module of the size of a home humidifier can remove greater than 1 kg of CO2<\/sub> per day, and four industrial electrodialysis stacks can capture greater than 300 kg of CO2<\/sub> per hour from flue gas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n