Hydrogen and Electricity Used to Decompose 'Isanhwatanso' (Carbon Dioxide)

Graph Showing Long-Term Operation Performance of Aqueous Metal-Carbon Dioxide System and Trends in Carbon Dioxide Conversion

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] A catalyst capable of dissolving and decomposing carbon dioxide, the main culprit of climate change, in water has been developed. Utilizing this catalyst can decompose carbon dioxide that threatens the climate to produce high value-added hydrogen or electricity, presenting a new path for carbon reduction activities.

The joint research team of Professors Kim Geontae and Baek Jongbeom at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology announced on the 16th that they developed a metal-organic composite catalyst that operates in an electrolyte saturated with carbon dioxide.

It is a ruthenium (Ru) and porous carbon support (PSC) combined ruthenium-carbon composite catalyst (CF-Ru@PSC). This catalyst generates hydrogen as excellently as platinum catalysts in an electrolyte saturated with carbon dioxide. It also maintains stable reactions even after operating for more than 100 hours. The manufacturing process is simple, enabling mass production.

Through this, the research team was able to replace the expensive platinum catalyst applied in the previously developed carbon dioxide decomposition system called the 'aqueous metal-carbon dioxide system' with affordable ruthenium. This significantly increases the commercialization potential of the carbon dioxide decomposition system.

Co-corresponding author Research Professor Mahmood (from the left), first author Researcher Kim Jeongwon, and corresponding author Professor Kim Geontae are taking a commemorative photo.

Once the carbon dioxide decomposition system is commercialized, it will be possible to separate carbon dioxide dissolved in water to produce hydrogen and electricity. The principle is that hydrogen ions (protons) generated by carbon dioxide dissolved in water are reduced through electrochemical reactions to produce hydrogen. A large amount of carbon dioxide is dissolved in seawater, and decomposing it will enable obtaining high value-added resources.

Professor Kim Geontae stated, "Applying a high-efficiency catalyst made from inexpensive materials instead of platinum in the aqueous metal-carbon dioxide system will accelerate commercialization," and added, "This research also provided clues to simultaneously solve the development of next-generation electrode new materials and stability issues."

Meanwhile, this research was introduced in the international materials science journal Journal of Materials Chemistry.

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