Extracting Only Carbon Monoxide from Greenhouse Gases Using Zeolite Catalysts

Increased Carbon Monoxide Production Efficiency of Zeolite Catalysts by 100 Times
Enabling Affordable Production and Greenhouse Gas Reduction

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] A new tin catalyst that converts carbon dioxide, which causes global warming, into carbon monoxide has been developed. This catalyst, which is 100 times more efficient than existing catalysts, is expected to enable the production of carbon monoxide, used in various fields, at a much lower cost.

Professor Kwon Young-guk of the Department of Energy Chemical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), along with Professors Kang Seok-dae and Kim Hyung-jun of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), announced on the 21st that they have developed an integrated catalyst (electrode) based on tin and a carbon support. The related research was published in ACS Energy Letters on the 11th (local time).

Increasing Carbon Monoxide Production by 100 Times with Tin Catalyst

The research team developed a catalyst where tin selectively produces only carbon monoxide through carbon nanotubes. Tin particles sized 9 to 10 nanometers (nm) attach to the surface of carbon nanotubes, and changes in the electric field generate carbon monoxide. The change in the electric field around the tin particles allows carbon dioxide, the reactant, to adhere better to the tin particle surface. Meanwhile, the production of formic acid, which competes with carbon monoxide generation, is suppressed due to the electric field of the carbon nanotubes.

The team explained that the carbon nanotubes increase the electron density on the tin surface, selectively enhancing the carbon monoxide reaction. The increased electron density allows carbon dioxide to adsorb well on the tin surface. On the other hand, the formation of formic acid, which is insensitive to the electric field, is suppressed.

The tin catalyst can be used more cheaply than gold- or silver-based catalysts that produce carbon monoxide. However, it has the drawback of producing more formic acid than carbon monoxide. Through this research, it became possible to selectively increase the reaction that produces carbon monoxide.

Easy Fabrication of Integrated Catalyst

Professor Kwon Young-guk, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology

In particular, the newly developed support-integrated catalyst can be easily manufactured using a method similar to firing pottery. A semi-liquid mixture (sol) composed of carbon nanotubes, tin nanoparticles, and polymers is formed into a hollow cylindrical (hollow fiber structure) electrode, which is then solidified (sintered) at high temperature.

Professor Kwon Young-guk said, "It has been a consensus for over 50 years that tin catalysts promote formic acid production, but by controlling the electrode electric field, we overturned this conventional wisdom," adding, "This is the first study to demonstrate how electric fields can be utilized in designing catalysts for carbon dioxide conversion reactions."

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