Scientists at Indiana University Finds Way to Efficiently Convert Carbon Dioxide in Earth Atmosphere to Carbon Monoxide

The scientists at Indiana University led by Liang-shi Li has found a way to efficiently convert carbon dioxide in the Earth atmosphere into carbon monoxide. This innovation is dubbed the Molecular Leaf and it would collect and store solar power without the need of a solar panel.

According to the scientists at Indiana University Bloomington Newsroom, the international team of chemists achieved the milestone by engineering a molecule that uses light or electricity to convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, a carbon-neutral fuel source. The process discovered by the Indiana University research team is by far the most efficient method for carbon reduction.

Carbon dioxide is produced and energy is released by burning fuel, such as carbon dioxide. However, turning carbon dioxide back into fuel needs at least the same amount of energy. Therefore, the challenge has always been to find ways to reduce the amount of energy needed to make carbon reduction efficient.

The scientists at Indiana University led by Liang-shi Li found a way to facilitate the formation of carbon monoxide while only requiring a relatively low amount of energy. To produce Li's molecule, the team used a complex of nanographene-rhenium complex that is connected via bipyridine, an organic compound, to start a reaction that efficiently converts carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide.

The process has been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. According to the research team, the molecule they developed is essentially a two-part system wherein the nanographene acts as an energy collector to absorb energy from sunlight, and the atomic rhenium acts as the engine for producing carbon monoxide.

According to Li, the nanographene drives the flow of electrons to the atomic rhenium to repeatedly bind and convert the normally stable carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide. The potential of this discovery could lead to further improvements in harnessing solar power.

It would also help in reducing the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere since the molecule can convert the carbon dioxide present in the greenhouse gasses to carbon monoxide.

Liang-shi Li, the team leader of the team of scientists at Indiana University plans to make the molecule they developed more powerful in the future. The scientists also want to do further research and find a replacement for the expensive rhenium atom.