Environment & Energy
Related: About this forum…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
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 UTAs 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.
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Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)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)Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)OKIsItJustMe
(19,933 posts)Is it not possible to use a number of things in concert to address a large challenge?