Nanodiamond – Imagine if greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere could cause climate change. But now, starting from a discovery, greenhouse gases can actually be used as materials for construction or industrial use.
Scientists have found a way to use nanodiamonds to convert greenhouse gases into industrial materials. Yes, CO2 can be used as raw material for substances such as formic acid or methanol. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microengineering and Microsystems IMM are working to turn these reactions into more sustainable ones making them viable for industry.
Converting CO2 into materials such as formic acid and methanol can create a circular economy that allows companies to reduce emissions and take advantage of them. In addition to recycling waste, this method simultaneously reduces costs, increases profits, and motivates polluting companies to capture their waste emissions.
Formic acid can be used as a preservative in animal feed and is an antibacterial agent for the chemical industry. Not only that, we often use this ingredient in fungicides.
Meanwhile, methanol is wood alcohol used as a chemical for making plastics, paints, and construction materials. Methanol is also a clean energy fuel to power cars, trucks, ships, fuel cells, boilers, and cooking stoves.
You May Also Like:
How Does it Work?
This conversion of CO2 to formic acid uses nano-diamonds as a catalyst and irradiates them with short-wavelength UV-C light from an aqueous environment. This method is being studied by Professor Anke Kruger from the University of Wurzburg in the laboratory. Nanodiamonds are environmentally friendly because they are made of carbon and are not very expensive.
Professor Kruger, now at the University of Stuttgart, Sahlmann Photochemical Solutions GmbH, and researchers from Fraunhofer IMM are bringing this research closer to real-world applications with the framework of the CarbonCat project.
Thomas Rehm, a scientist at Fraunhofer IMM, said so far the experiments were in batch reactors, or stirred flasks. The CO2 is directed onto the plate from below in a return stream. According to Rehm, this allows the reaction to take place continuously rather than in batches, using a higher amount of CO2 and a smaller volume of solution. This creates more formic acid in a simpler process. Researchers are also replacing UV-C light with visible light, which is easier to handle and cheaper, requiring only modifications to the diamond’s surface to capture the visible light.