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Asked by anon-256499 to Radha on 9 Jun 2020.
Question: Can catalysis help reduce the CO2 levels in the atmosphere?
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Radha Boya answered on 9 Jun 2020:
Yes, with the right conversion, CO2 can be seen as a raw material. For instance it can be converted to fuels like ethanol, and methanol with catalysts such as gold/copper. Increasing the efficiency of the conversion is important to keep the cost of the process low. So researchers are looking for new materials along with improving the efficiency of the existing catalysts.
Comments
Kati commented on :
Most chemical processes have a catalyst somewhere in the chain. CO2 conversions is no different. Here is an interesting article for you to check out. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48723049
Andrew S. commented on :
Yes indeed they can! A combination of UV-light and zeolite cage molecules can convert CO2 into useful alcohol and aldehyde molecules.
Trees and plants use photosynthesis too, which is nature’s way of doing something similar, but sugar molecules are normally the product in this case.
Mark commented on :
One of the difficulties in converting CO2 into useful things through catalysis, is most of the conversions to useful molecules from CO2 are energetically uphill, meaning energy input in required. As you will know catalysts can only accelerate reactions, they do not change the thermodynamics (energy input/output) of the reaction. Therefore while catalysts can help ‘steer’ the reaction, some energy input will likely be required (analogous to energy from the sun being used for photosynthesis). The other challenge of converting CO2 from the atmosphere is CO2 in the atmosphere is very dilute, so concentrating it to the point where it can be used as a feedstock can be energy intensive. Hope that helps.