Carbon dioxide (CO2): the great enemy of the environment. A greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming and climate change, to the point that half the world is studying it ways to “capture” it. What if instead of being a problem, it could become a resource? What if we could not only steal it, but actually use it to generate clean energy? This is the challenge that researchers at the University of Queensland have taken up, developing a revolutionary nanogenerator that absorbs CO2 and transforms it into electricity. A small invention that could have a big impact on our sustainable future. As always, I'll link you to the study and I'll tell you.
A “carbon negative” nanogenerator
The nanogenerator developed by the team Dr. Zhuyuan Wang and Prof. Xiwang Zhang it is not limited to being “carbon neutral”, but goes further: it is “carbon negative”, which means that it actually consumes greenhouse gas while generating energy. An approach that overturns the perception of CO2: from waste to resource, from threat to opportunity.
The device consists of two key elements: a polyamine gel, already used by industry to absorb CO2, and a lattice of boron nitride often only a few atoms, which generates positive and negative ions. The key to how it works? It's all in the different size of the ions: the positive ones are much larger than the negative ones and, moving at different speeds, generate a current that can be amplified into electricity.
A nanogenerator inspired by nature and projected towards the future
The principle behind the nanogenerator is inspired by the most efficient energy conversion processes present in nature and in the human body, which are based on the transport of ions (and not electrons, as occurs in the traditional electricity grid). Once again, I will never stop telling you, there biomimetics opens new horizons.
Laboratory tests (this is a proof-of-concept) have demonstrated the feasibility of the concept, with the nanogenerator capable of powering light bulbs and electronic devices in a sealed box filled with CO2. A result that has thrilled researchers, opening up previously unthinkable scenarios.
When I saw the electrical signals coming out, I was very excited but worried that I had made a mistake. I double-checked everything and it was working fine, so I started dreaming of changing the world using this technology.
Dr. Zhuyuan Wang
Towards portable and large-scale applications
At the moment, the nanogenerator is capable of harvesting approximately 1% of the total energy intrinsically transported by CO2, but as with other technologies, researchers will work to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Potential future applications are numerous and on different scales. On the one hand, a portable device could be made that can generate electricity for a cell phone or laptop using CO2 from the atmosphere. On the other hand, on a much larger scale, this technology could be integrated with an industrial CO2 capture (and electricity production) process.
Of course, the road is still long and many technological challenges will have to be faced to "scale" this invention, but this little gadget already makes you dream big.
