The best way to stave off the worst effects of climate change is to reduce CO2 emissions around the world. And one way to do that, says Zhongwei Chen, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo, is to capture the CO2 and convert it into other useful chemicals, such as methanol and methane for fuels. Stopping emissions at the source, and further reducing future ones by replacing CO2-producing fuels with cleaner ones “…is a way to close the circle,” Chen says.
In order to turn CO2 into methanol, you need a catalyst to jump-start the electrochemical reaction. Traditionally, these catalysts have either been made out of precious metals like gold or palladium, or base metals like copper or tin. However, they are expensive and break down easily, hindering large-scale implementation. “Right now we can’t meet industrial requirements,” says Chen, who holds a Canada Research Chair. “So we are trying to design catalysts with better activity, selectivity, and durability.”
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Image: Chithra Karunakaran on the SM beamline at the Canadian Light Source
Credit: David Stobbe