EAPSI: Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Water Using Visible Light and Nanostructured Ruthenium

该项目旨在利用燃烧产物与金属纳米颗粒相结合，创造一个循环反应系列，就像大自然的光合作用一样。这项研究的影响是深远的，因为这项技术可以取代从地壳中提取的汽油作为燃料来源。萘是许多其他化学物质的前体，是最简单的多环芳烃。在今天的工业中，在各种精炼和蒸馏步骤中，它从煤焦油中去除，在较小程度上从石油中去除。我们实验室进行的研究表明，某些纳米结构的金属颗粒可以利用可见光将二氧化碳和水转化为汽油。最近的研究表明，当使用甲醇代替水时，可以用钴催化剂生产萘。这些方法比目前使用的精炼和蒸馏步骤要清洁得多，并且能够根据简单的起始材料产生目标化合物。这个项目将扩展已知的金属，可以用钌代替更常见的金属来进行这些转换。这项研究将在新加坡国立大学进行，由杨文祥（Jason） Yeo博士指导。萘和正烷烃是在煤焦油和石油的精炼和蒸馏过程中产生的。我们实验室小组的研究已经证明，费托纳米结构金属粒子在暴露于可见光下过夜时，可以将水和二氧化碳转化为正烷烃阵列。最近我们发现，当在含钴系统中使用甲醇代替水时，结果是萘的单一产物。该项目将继续之前的工作，在水和甲醇系统中测试钌作为最终的费托金属。该奖项由美国国家科学基金会和新加坡国家研究基金会共同资助，隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期学院项目，支持一名美国研究生进行暑期研究。

This project seeks to utilize the products of combustion in conjunction with metal nanoparticles to create a cyclic reaction series, much like nature's photosynthesis. The impact of this research is far-reaching, as this technique could allow for the replacement of gasoline removed from the Earth's crust as a fuel source. A precursor to many other chemicals, naphthalene is the simplest polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. In today's industry, it is removed from coal tar, and to a lesser degree, petroleum, during the various refining and distillation steps. Research performed by our lab group has demonstrated that certain nanostructured metal particles can convert carbon dioxide and water into gasoline using visible light. Recent research has demonstrated that naphthalene can be produced with a cobalt catalyst when methanol is used instead of water. These methods are significantly cleaner than the refining and distillation steps that are currently used, as well as being able to produce target compounds depending on the simple starting materials. This project will expand upon the known metals that can be used to perform these conversions by using ruthenium instead of more common metals. This research will be conducted at the National University of Singapore under the invaluable mentorship of Dr. Boon Siang (Jason) Yeo.Naphthalene and normal-alkane hydrocarbons are produced during the refining and distillation steps of coal tar and petroleum. Research performed by our lab group has demonstrated the ability of Fischer-Tropsch nanostructured metal particles to convert water and carbon dioxide into arrays of n-alkane hydrocarbons when exposed to visible light overnight. Recently we have discovered that when methanol is used instead of water in a cobalt-containing system, the single product of naphthalene results. This project will continue the work done previously to test ruthenium as the final Fischer-Tropsch metal in both water and methanol systems.This award, under East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the National Research Foundation of Singapore.