Scientists have developed a new and more efficient method of creating synthetic gasoline and energy-rich products. They believe that it can possibly make the product more feasible for commercial use.
Researchers from the University of Illinois have tried two different catalysts in the two-step process of carbon-dioxide reduction. This is different from the usual one-stop process involving only one catalyst. In the two-step process, they used an ionic liquid for the first step and silver for the second step.
Salehi-Khojin, lead researcher and a professor from the University of Illinois, explained that there is a need for a two-step method because single-catalyst systems are not that efficient. However, silver is too expensive that they had to look for other materials in the form of carbon nanofibers which is a nitrogen-doped common carbon structural material.
The scientists came upon a major discovery: a co-catalyst was found in a carbon-based nanofiber substance. It cheaper and easier to produce and more importantly, it converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide –an important material needed in the initial process of synthesizing fuel.
They observed the interaction between the two catalysts in which they found that it was carbon catalyzing the other. Also, the new system is better than silver in efficiency. Mohammad Asadi, co-author of the study, wrote: "it was the carbon atom sitting next to the dopant that was responsible. We were very surprised at first," but soon the co-catalyst system began "showing substantial synergistic effects.”
Bijandra Kumar, co-author of the study, added: the team has "uncovered the hidden mechanism" in the co-catalyzed reaction and this has opened up a lot of options for designing inexpensive and efficient catalyst system for carbon dioxide conversion. Further, one can imagine that using atomically-thin, two-dimensional graphene nano-sheets, which have extremely high surface area and can easily be designed with dopant atoms like nitrogen, we can develop even far more efficient catalyst systems.”
Salehi-Khojin is positive that the system they developed will not be only useful in the production of synthetic gasoline but to other studies as well. He said, "I believe this can open a new field for the design of inexpensive and efficient catalytic systems for the many researchers already working with these easily manipulated advanced carbon materials."
The study was published in the Dec. 2 issue of the Nature Communications and featured in Phys.org.
