{"id":38184,"date":"2016-10-20T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T05:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rss.nova-institut.net\/public.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.biofuelsdigest.com%2Fbdigest%2F2016%2F10%2F13%2Fornl-researchers-develops-method-to-produce-ethanol-from-co2%2F"},"modified":"2021-09-09T21:40:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T19:40:15","slug":"nano-spike-catalysts-convert-carbon-dioxide-directly-into-ethanol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/nano-spike-catalysts-convert-carbon-dioxide-directly-into-ethanol\/","title":{"rendered":"Nano-spike catalysts convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"BorlabsCookie _brlbs-cb-youtube\">\n<div class=\"_brlbs-content-blocker\">\n<div class=\"_brlbs-embed _brlbs-video-youtube\"> <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"_brlbs-thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/borlabs-cookie\/assets\/images\/cb-no-thumbnail.png\" alt=\"YouTube\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"_brlbs-caption\">\n<p>By loading the video, you agree to YouTube&#8217;s privacy policy.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/policies.google.com\/privacy?hl=en&amp;gl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_brlbs-btn _brlbs-icon-play-white\" href=\"#\" data-borlabs-cookie-unblock role=\"button\">Load video<\/a><\/p>\n<p><label><input type=\"checkbox\" name=\"unblockAll\" value=\"1\" checked> <small>Always unblock YouTube<\/small><\/label><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"borlabs-hide\" data-borlabs-cookie-type=\"content-blocker\" data-borlabs-cookie-id=\"youtube\"><script type=\"text\/template\">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<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Oct. 12, 2016\u2014In a new twist to waste-to-fuel technology, scientists at the Department of Energy\u2019s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol. Their finding, which involves nanofabrication and catalysis science, was serendipitous.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_38256\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38256\" style=\"width: 242px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"  wp-image-38256\" src=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Rondinone_Song_hensley_r1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"rondinone_song_hensley_r1\" width=\"242\" height=\"161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2016\/10\/Rondinone_Song_hensley_r1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2016\/10\/Rondinone_Song_hensley_r1.jpg 354w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-38256\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">ORNL\u2019s Yang Song (seated), Dale Hensley (standing left) and Adam Rondinone examine a carbon nanospike sample with a scanning electron microscope. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ornl.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/Rondinone_Song_hensley_r1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8211; Zoom &#8211;<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe discovered somewhat by accident that this material worked,\u201d said ORNL\u2019s Adam Rondinone, lead author of the team\u2019s study published in ChemistrySelect. \u201cWe were trying to study the first step of a proposed reaction when we realized that the catalyst was doing the entire reaction on its own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team used a catalyst made of carbon, copper and nitrogen and applied voltage to trigger a complicated chemical reaction that essentially reverses the combustion process. With the help of the nanotechnology-based catalyst which contains multiple reaction sites, the solution of carbon dioxide dissolved in water turned into ethanol with a yield of 63 percent. Typically, this type of electrochemical reaction results in a mix of several different products in small amounts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re taking carbon dioxide, a waste product of combustion, and we\u2019re pushing that combustion reaction backwards with very high selectivity to a useful fuel,\u201d Rondinone said. \u201cEthanol was a surprise &#8212; it\u2019s extremely difficult to go straight from carbon dioxide to ethanol with a single catalyst.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The catalyst\u2019s novelty lies in its nanoscale structure, consisting of copper nanoparticles embedded in carbon spikes. This nano-texturing approach avoids the use of expensive or rare metals such as platinum that limit the economic viability of many catalysts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy using common materials, but arranging them with nanotechnology, we figured out how to limit the side reactions and end up with the one thing that we want,\u201d Rondinone said.<\/p>\n<p>The researchers\u2019 initial analysis suggests that the spiky textured surface of the catalysts provides ample reactive sites to facilitate the carbon dioxide-to-ethanol conversion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are like 50-nanometer lightning rods that concentrate electrochemical reactivity at the tip of the spike,\u201d Rondinone said.<\/p>\n<p>Given the technique\u2019s reliance on low-cost materials and an ability to operate at room temperature in water, the researchers believe the approach could be scaled up for industrially relevant applications. For instance, the process could be used to store excess electricity generated from variable power sources such as wind and solar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA process like this would allow you to consume extra electricity when it\u2019s available to make and store as ethanol,\u201d Rondinone said. \u201cThis could help to balance a grid supplied by intermittent renewable sources.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The researchers plan to refine their approach to improve the overall production rate and further study the catalyst\u2019s properties and behavior.<\/p>\n<p>ORNL\u2019s Yang Song, Rui Peng, Dale Hensley, Peter Bonnesen, Liangbo Liang, Zili Wu, Harry Meyer III, Miaofang Chi, Cheng Ma, Bobby Sumpter and Adam Rondinone are coauthors on the study, which is published as \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1002\/slct.201601169\/full\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">High-Selectivity Electrochemical Conversion of CO<sub>2<\/sub> to Ethanol using a Copper Nanoparticle\/N-Doped Graphene Electrode<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The work was supported by DOE\u2019s Office of Science and used resources at the ORNL\u2019s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.<\/p>\n<p>UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE&#8217;s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Tennessee, in a new twist to waste-to-fuel technology, scientists at the Department of EnergyR&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","nova_meta_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5572,5571],"tags":[12463,10743],"supplier":[2437,11236,4116],"class_list":["post-38184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bio-based","category-co2-based","tag-ccu2016","tag-useco2","supplier-oak-ridge-national-laboratory","supplier-u-s-department-of-energy","supplier-us-doe-office-of-science-sc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38184\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38184"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=38184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}