12/31/2022 0 Comments Carbon reactivity![]() ![]() “Having oxygen atoms just beneath the surface – a suboxide layer – is a critical aspect to this,” Crumlin said. #Carbon reactivity how toThe ALS is an X-ray research facility known as a synchrotron that has dozens of experimental beam lines for exploring a wide range of microscopic properties in matter, and JCAP is focused on how to convert carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight into renewable fuels. He also shares how a pet turtle led his way toward a science career. “We found more than we thought we were going to find from this fundamental investigation,” said Ethan Crumlin, a scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) who co-led the study with Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) researchers Junko Yano, at Berkeley Lab, and William Goddard III, at Caltech.ĪUDIO: Ethan Crumlin (pictured above), a scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, talks about the importance of interfaces in chemistry: the interaction between liquids or gases with the surface of solids. In the studied reaction, the copper helps to chemically break down and reassemble carbon dioxide and water molecules into other molecules. Their results were published online June 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.Ĭopper is a common catalyst – a material used to activate and speed up chemical reactions – and, although it is not efficient, it aids in the production of ethanol when exposed to carbon dioxide and water. To explain what was at work, the research team developed computer models, and revised existing theories to explain what they were witnessing in experiments. The scale bar represents 50 microns, or millionths of a meter. This false-color scanning electron microscopy image shows microscopic details on the surface of a copper foil that was used as a catalyst in a chemical reaction studied at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source. Large concentrations of carbon dioxide are harmful to health and the environment, so researchers have been pursuing ways to remove it from the atmosphere and safely store it or chemically convert it into more beneficial forms. This information could prove useful in designing new types of materials to further enhance reactions and make them more efficient in converting carbon dioxide into other products. While using X-rays to study the early stages of a chemical process that can reformulate carbon dioxide into more useful compounds, including liquid fuels, researchers were surprised when the experiment taught them something new about what drives this reaction.Īn X-ray technique at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), coupled with theoretical work by a team at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Caltech), revealed how oxygen atoms embedded very near the surface of a copper sample had a more dramatic effect on the early stages of the reaction with carbon dioxide than earlier theories could account for. X-ray experiments at Berkeley Lab have helped to show what’s at work in the early stages of chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and water into ethanol. Scientists are seeking ways to reduce environmentally harmful levels of carbon dioxide from vehicle emissions and other sources by improving chemical processes that convert carbon dioxide gas into ethanol (molecular structure shown here) for use in liquid fuels, for example. ![]()
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