Cornell researchers have innovated a solar-powered process for capturing carbon dioxide, inspired by plant mechanisms. This method improves existing carbon capture techniques by utilizing abundant sunlight to create a reactive enol molecule that can effectively separate carbon dioxide from industrial sources. The approach may not only reduce costs associated with carbon capture but also lower net emissions in the fight against climate change. The pioneering research, led by graduate student Bayu Ahmad and professor Phillip Milner, represents a significant advancement in making carbon capture more sustainable and efficient.
From a chemistry standpoint, this is totally different than what anybody else is doing in carbon capture; the whole mechanism was Bayu's idea, and when he originally showed it to me, I thought it would never work. It totally works.
Carbon dioxide is challenging to capture because it's inert, which has led researchers and industry to amines - organic, ammonia-derived compounds. But amines are not stable in the presence of oxygen.
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