Researchers and collaborators at Tsukuba University have experimentally measured the hydrogenation of the adsorbed formate by metals. This innovation will facilitate the conversion of carbon dioxide pollution into usable methanol fuel.
Summary. Image credit: Tsukuba University.
The global climate continues to change due to carbon dioxide pollution. Science Advances revealed how researchers can detect these pollutants, even regionally and almost immediately (April 22, 2022). Numerous research studies focus on how to transform carbon dioxide pollution into a fuel, such as methanol, as part of an answer to the pollution problem.
Copper catalysts can be used for these transformations. For the best possible conversion of carbon dioxide pollution into methanol fuel, it is essential to know the associated chemistry step by step. However, the details of this chemistry are still unknown; Tests are required to validate existing ideas based on computer simulations.
Now, researchers at Tsukuba University and working partners have experimentally evaluated the hydrogenation of copper adsorbed formate in an article just published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. This study will help the optimization of key processes in the said pollutant-fuel process, accelerating the manufacture of methanol.
Hydrogenation of carbon dioxide into methanol is a potential key technology to produce fuel and chemical raw materials, but optimizing the reaction remains difficult. This is because it is difficult to detect experimentally chemical intermediates in the step-by-step reaction mechanism.
Dr. Kotaro Takeyasu, lead author of the study and adjunct professor, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Tsukuba University
Two important results required the use of programmed temperature desorption and infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. First, exposure to atomic hydrogen caused the adsorbed formate to hydrogenate at a temperature of 200 K.
The specific chemical composition of the product is not yet known. In addition, it was discovered that the hydrogenated formate was again converted to adsorbed formate or gaseous formaldehyde in a ratio of 96: 4 at a temperature of 250 K.
Based on our experimental and computational work, the hydrogenation activation energy of the adsorbed formate is approximately 121 kilojoules per mole. Our results are consistent with the reported results of methanol synthesis studies.
Dr. Kotaro Takeyasu, lead author of the study and adjunct professor, Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, Tsukuba University
Copper-zinc alloys predominate in this line of work. Currently, the research team is comparing the activation energies found in the present work with especially relevant catalytic alloys, which also need experimental and computational research.
Researchers will be able to produce better methanol from carbon dioxide, according to the results of this study. These efforts will help transform air pollution into automotive fuel and industrial chemical raw materials. It offers a way to give more value to carbon dioxide, which is usually seen as a waste. Researchers may have devised a new method to maximize the use of limited resources by improving the hydrogenation reaction discussed here.
This research was supported by grants from the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science for the Innovative Area “Hydrogenomics” (Grant No. JP18H05519), for the Hyper-Ordered Transforming Research Areas (A) Structure Science “(grant no. JP20H05883), and for challenging research (grant no. JP20K21099).
Magazine reference:
Takeyasu, K., et al. (2022) Hydrogenation of formate species using atomic hydrogen in a Cu catalyst model (111). Journal of the American Chemical Society. doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c02797.
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