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Scientists from Nanjing University in China have developed an innovative device that allows to obtain 98% of oxygen from CO2.
According to them, the new technology effectively breaks down CO2 into carbon and oxygen and may be promising for use in extreme environments such as underwater environments, or even on Mars. The new device does not require the harsh pressure and temperature conditions that are commonly used for such reactions.
«If the required power comes from renewable energy, this method paves the way for carbon neutrality. At the same time, it is a practical, controllable method of producing oxygen from CO2 with a wide range of applications — from Mars exploration and supplying oxygen for spacesuits to underwater life support, breathing masks, indoor air purification and industrial waste treatment», — the developers emphasize.
For many years, scientists have been trying to recreate the process of photosynthesis, which plants use to convert CO2 into oxygen and glucose via hydrogen atoms. Scientists from Nanjing University in collaboration with colleagues from Fudan University offered a new technology direct splitting of carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen. Their technology involves the use of lithium instead of hydrogen.
The device consists of a gas cathode with a nanoscale catalyst made of ruthenium and cobalt and a metal lithium anode. CO2 enters the cathode and undergoes 2 stages of electrochemical reduction with the participation of lithium. In the first stage, CO2 reacts with lithium to form lithium carbonate (Li2CO3). After that, lithium carbonate is decomposed into lithium oxide and carbon.
In the process of electrocatalytic oxidation, lithium oxide is converted into lithium ions and releases oxygen as a by-product. The efficiency of the device is up to 98.6% of pure oxygen at the output.
«The use of the optimized RuCo catalyst provides a very high oxygen yield of over 98.6 percent, which is significantly higher than the efficiency of natural photosynthesis», — the developers emphasize.
At the same time promising technology is capable of converting not only carbon dioxide into oxygen, but also a number of mixed gases, including those present in industrial emissions, a mixture of carbon dioxide and oxygen, and those found in the atmosphere of Mars. The predominant part of the rarefied Martian atmosphere is CO2, whose pressure is less than one percent of Earth’s atmospheric pressure.
As part of the modeling to split CO2 under similar conditions, the researchers created a mixture of gases from argon and an extremely low concentration of CO2 (less than 1%). However, the researchers did not provide information on the amount of oxygen produced by the test results under similar conditions.
The results of the study were published in the journal Angewandte Chemie
Source: Interesting Engineering