| Capturing Carbon with Copper |
| 04 February 2010 |
|
A New Discovery in the Search for CO2 Removal Systems
The global concern about the increasing level of CO2 and its effect on climate change has increased interest in CO2 removal systems and in the possibility to use carbon dioxide as a feedstock for preparation of value-added compounds. A team of Leiden University, led by Elisabeth Bouwman, recently published a research on Science Magazine, about their discovery of a dinuclear copper(I) complex being oxidized in air by carbon dioxide (rather than O2), thus capturing CO2 while generating a usable compound. This new copper process would be cheaper than other similar systems, since only a low electric potential (-0.03 volt) is necessary for oxidation. It would be also possible to reuse the copper complex by treating it in acetonitrile with a soluble lithium salt and applying a low electric potential. At the end of the process the copper complex returns to its original state and is ready to trap more CO2. The reaction would moreover generate a useful by-product, an oxalate, which could be converted into marketable chemicals such as antifreeze. The system is unfortunately not ready for industrial application yet, due to the high cost of lithium salt and the long time necessary to complete the whole process. However, this discovery could represent an important turning point for the development of carbon trap systems." |
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