Corti G., Cantrell T., Beaux M., Prakash T., McIlroy D.N., Norton M.G.
GoNano Technologies, US
Keywords: carbon capture, carbon conversion, photocatalyst
Several approaches to stabilize and reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations have been tested. While carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been hailed as the most promising approach for sequestering CO2 safely away from the atmosphere, the technology remains unproven, costly, and will likely not be commercially available for decades. An alternative to CCS is to consider CO2 as a commodity that can be converted – or more specifically “recycled” – into useful and valuable chemicals and/or clean burning fuels. This approach not only reduces or eliminates the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere, but it creates a revenue stream to offset the cost of implementation. GoNano Technologies, Inc. has demonstrated that its nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst can be used to selectively convert CO2 into methane, methanol, formic acid, and/or formaldehyde. These chemicals are important raw materials for a number of industries including the manufacture of plastics and rubber, and in the case of methanol and formic acid there are potential applications in fuel cells.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: Technical Proceedings of the 2010 Clean Technology Conference and Trade Show
Published: June 21, 2010
Pages: 9 - 12
Industry sector: Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Materials for Oil & Gas
ISBN: 978-1-4398-3419-0