Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 15th. A US research team reported that they have designed an upgraded version of artificial leaves. By adding a semi-permeable membrane, the artificial leaves can get out of the laboratory and remove the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the outdoor air. , And the carbon dioxide conversion efficiency is at least 10 times that of green plants in nature.
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Plant photosynthesis can use light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into organic matter and release oxygen. Scientists have tried to develop artificial leaves to help remove the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in recent years, but the effect has not been as expected.
The research team from the University of Illinois at Chicago said that the artificial leaves developed by some research teams were limited to the adsorption and conversion of pure carbon dioxide gas released from pressurized storage tanks in the laboratory. For artificial leaves to be put into practical use, they must be able to absorb carbon dioxide from outdoor air or even flue gas from coal-fired power plants.
To this end, they proposed an improved plan: encapsulate the previously designed artificial leaves into a specially designed transparent film. The membrane is made of quaternary ammonium resin and is a semi-permeable membrane filled with water. When the sun shines, the water in the film evaporates, and when the water passes through the film, it will selectively inhale carbon dioxide gas.
The artificial leaves in the film are actually a light absorber coated with a catalyst that can convert carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide produced can be extracted and used to make various synthetic fuels. Oxygen, another product of the reaction, can also be collected or directly released into the external environment.
The upgraded artificial leaves are each 1.7 meters long and 0.2 meters wide. According to calculations, 360 such leaves can effectively purify the surrounding environment by absorbing carbon dioxide gas every day, and produce about half a ton of carbon monoxide, which is used to make synthetic fuels.
This research result was published in the latest issue of the American Chemical Society Journal "Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering". The research team said that by wrapping the previously designed artificial leaves in this special film, "artificial photosynthesis" can be carried out at any time in the outdoor environment, just like leaves in nature.