Page 28 - Plastics News August 2018

FEATURES

Converting Carbon Dioxide into Methane or Ethane Selectively

The catalyst material developed by the research team is expected to be applied to a variety of areas such as
high-value-added material production

research team led by Professor Su-Il In from the aterials with excellent electron transmission are under
A Department of Energy Science and Engineering had way. Professor Su-il In’s research team developed a high-
succeeded in developing photo catalysts that can convert HIÀFLHQF\ SKRWRFDWDO\VW WKDW FDQ FRQYHUW FDUERQ GLR[LGH
carbon dioxide into usable energy such as methane or into methane (CH4) or ethane (C2H6) by placing graphene
ethane. RQ UHGXFHG WLWDQLXP GLR[LGH LQ D VWDEOH DQG HIÀFLHQW ZD\
As carbon dioxide emissions increase, the Earth’s The photocatalyst developed by the research team can
temperature rises and interest in reducing carbon dioxide, selectively convert carbon dioxide from a gas to methane
the main culprit of global warming, has been increasing. In or ethane. The results showed that its generation
addition, the shift to reusable fuel for existing resources volume is 259umol/g and 77umol/g of methane and
due to energy depletion is also drawing attention. In order ethane respectively and its conversion rate is 5.2% and
to solve trans-national environmental problems, research 2.7% higher than conventional reduced titanium dioxide
on photocatalysts, which are essential in converting
carbon dioxide and water into hydrocarbon fuels, is gaining
attention.
Although many semiconductor materials with large
band gaps are often used in photocatalyst studies, they
are limited in absorbing solar energy in various areas.
Thus, photocatalyst studies focusing on improving the
photocatalyst structure and surface to increase solar
photocatalysts. In terms of ethane generation volume, this
UHVXOW VKRZV WKH ZRUOG·V KLJKHVW HIÀFLHQF\ XQGHU VLPLODU
experimental conditions.
Fig 2. Schematic illustration showing photocatalytic CO2
reduction activity
,Q DGGLWLRQ WKH UHVHDUFK WHDP SURYHG IRU WKH ÀUVW WLPH
that the pore moves toward graphene due to band bending
phenomena visible from titanium dioxide and graphene
interfaces through the international joint research
conducted with the research team led by James R. Durrant
at the Department of Chemistry of Imperial College London
(ICL), UK using photoelectron spectroscopy.
The movement of the pore towards graphene activates
reactions by causing electrons to gather on the surface of
the reduced titanium dioxide and forms a large amount
of radical methane (CH3) as polyelectrons engage in the
UHDFWLRQV 7KH UHVHDUFK WHDP LGHQWLÀHG D PHFKDQLVP IRU
Fig 1. (a) Sample pictures obtained at different stages of producing methane if this formed radical methane reacts
synthesis (b) Cumulative with hydrogen ions and for producing ethane if the radical
methane reacts with each other.
methane and ethane evolution for different Pt wt%
sensitized 0.50-G/RBT samples The catalyst material developed by the research team is
expected to be applied to a variety of areas such as high-
energy absorption areas or utilizing two-dimensional m

Plastics News August 2018 28