The most common greenhouse gas produced by the United States, carbon dioxide (CO2), has caught the attention of scientists looking to reduce its presence in the atmosphere by using it during the process of commodity synthesis. However, thus far their efforts have been unsuccessful due to the tough nature of carbon-oxygen bonds, preventing them from forming carbon-carbon bonds efficiently.
A team of Stanford University researchers hopes to change this with its new discovery: a method of using CO2 to create desirable bio-based feedstock. This feedstock has the potential to be used in the synthesis of a renewable polymer that could replace fossil-fuel derived polymers with production processes that pose detrimental effects to the environment.
The chemical conversion of carbon dioxide to renewable polymers is difficult because it hinges on using a carbonate ion a carbon-hydrogen carboxylation reaction, which is very difficult to achieve. During the study, the team discovered that this reaction can be made easier when the carbonate ion is in the presence of a molten salt with high levels of alkali cations, such as potassium and cesium.
The team ran a series of reactions to test this newly discovered route to renewable biopolymers, revealing that using cesium or potassium ions at temperatures between 200 to 250 degrees Celsius allowed for an efficient process in the presence of CO2. However, when the team increased the volume of CO2, they found that the reaction slowed and the yield decreased, pointing to the need for larger reactors that can effectively disperse salt and help boost yields.
In order to further the mission of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it into renewable biopolymers, the team developed two routes that were able to provide feasible, scalable reactions to accomplish this goal.
The new developments open up doors in the field of environmental science and could lead to the creation of high-volume reactions that can make removing CO2 from the atmosphere and converting it into beneficial products within our grasp.
The discoveries come shortly after NatureWorks announced its new 8,300 square-foot laboratory designed to transform another greenhouse gas, methane, into lactic acid to be used in the creation of the Ingeo biopolymer.
The findings were published in the March 9 issue of Nature.
