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OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
Tue Sep 20, 2016, 10:18 PM Sep 2016

…inexpensive semiconducting organic polymers can harvest sunlight … split carbon dioxide …

OK, look, the headline is just awful

http://www.uta.edu/news/releases/2016/09/Rajeshwar%20discovery.php

[font face=Serif][font size=5]UTA proves that inexpensive semiconducting organic polymers can harvest sunlight to split carbon dioxide into alcohol fuels[/font]

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

[font size=3]Chemists at The University of Texas at Arlington have been the first to demonstrate that an organic semiconductor polymer called polyaniline is a promising photocathode material for the conversion of carbon dioxide into alcohol fuels without the need for a co-catalyst.

“This opens up a new field of research into new applications for inexpensive, readily available organic semiconducting polymers within solar fuel cells,” said principal researcher Krishnan Rajeshwar, UTA distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry and co-Director of UTA’s Center for Renewable Energy, Science & Technology.

“These organic semiconducting polymers also demonstrate several technical advantages, including that they do not need a co-catalyst to sustain the conversion to alcohol products and the conversion can take place at lower temperatures and use less energy, which would further reduce costs,” Rajeshwar added.



The stationary currents recorded after two hours during testing suggests that the polyaniline layer maintained its photoelectrochemical efficacy for the studied time period. While in the gas phase, only hydrogen was detected, but potential fuels such as methanol and ethanol were both detected in the solution for carbon dioxide-saturated samples.

…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C6CC04050K
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…inexpensive semiconducting organic polymers can harvest sunlight … split carbon dioxide … (Original Post) OKIsItJustMe Sep 2016 OP
Now all we need to do is... Binkie The Clown Sep 2016 #1
Polymers don’t need to be produced from petroleum actually OKIsItJustMe Sep 2016 #2
O.K. So we need 2.7 million square miles of non-petroleum polymers. Got it. n/t Binkie The Clown Sep 2016 #3
Why do you assume that everything must be addressed using a single method? OKIsItJustMe Sep 2016 #4

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
1. Now all we need to do is...
Wed Sep 21, 2016, 12:55 AM
Sep 2016

build and deploy the 2.7 million square miles of collectors to replace the same thing that the dying Amazon Rain Forest does right now. It's a race to the finish line. Which will happen first? Will we cover 2.7 million square miles with this new polymer before the rain forest dies? Or will the rain forest die first? Stay tuned.

(BTW: How much environmental damage will be done in the process of manufacturing 2.7 million square miles of polymer? And aren't polymers all derived from petroleum? And if it works and we do cover 2.7 million square miles with the polymer, all we've done is break even with the current state of affairs, which means global warming is still chugging ahead full steam.)

OKIsItJustMe

(19,933 posts)
4. Why do you assume that everything must be addressed using a single method?
Wed Sep 21, 2016, 12:38 PM
Sep 2016

Is it not possible to use a number of things in concert to address a large challenge?

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