Imagine if we could take CO2, that most notorious of greenhouse gases, and convert it into something useful. Something like plastic, for example. The positive effects could be dramatic, both diverting CO2 from the atmosphere and reducing the need for fossil fuels to make products.
A group of researchers, led by the University of Toronto Ted Sargent group, just published results that bring this possibility a lot closer.
Using the Canadian Light Source and a new technique exclusive to the facility, they were able to pinpoint the conditions that convert CO2 to ethylene most efficiently. Ethylene, in turn, is used to make polyethylene—the most common plastic used today—whose annual global production is around 80 million tonnes.
“This experiment could not have been performed anywhere else in the world, and we are thrilled with the results”, says U of T Ph.D. student Phil De Luna, the lead researcher on this project.
Read more at: https://phys.org/
