At the Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a unique technology has been developed for producing methane from carbon dioxide at room temperature using photocatalysts that operate on sunlight. This development was presented at the V Russian Congress "Roskataliz" in St. Petersburg.
Traditional methods of CO2 processing require significant energy costs — high temperatures and pressures. The new technology uses only visible and solar light, which is a breakthrough in the field of environmental safety of industrial enterprises.
The systems use the energy of light, due to which carbon dioxide is reduced.
The system is based on photocatalysis, where special substances (catalysts) under the action of light trigger chemical reactions. The technology is based on titanium dioxide modified with graphite-like carbon nitride, copper and its oxides.
According to the author of the development, Anna Kurenkova, photocatalysts have demonstrated high activity in CO2 reduction. Scientists are confident that the technology is promising not only for the production of methane and carbon monoxide, but also for other valuable chemical products.
The key advantage of the new technology is its environmental friendliness. It does not require additional energy, except for solar energy, which makes the process closed and practically waste-free.
The specialists plan to synthesize various alcohols, which are widely used in the chemical industry, which will create a line of useful products from carbon dioxide.
The V Russian Congress on Catalysis "Roskataliz" is held from April 21 to 26 in St. Petersburg, bringing together more than 500 participants from scientific organizations, universities and industrial enterprises to discuss topical issues from petrochemistry to environmental technologies.
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