Chemical transformation and storage of carbon dioxide via solar-powered artificial photosynthesis on semiconducting nanowire arrays

二氧化碳（CO2）被认为是导致全球变暖的主要温室气体。该项目涉及二氧化碳的捕获和化学转化，从而降低其在大气中的浓度。与传统的CO2洗涤方法相比，所提出的光催化路线仅涉及使用阳光和水，并且CO2氢化反应在室温下发生。原则上，它可以具有极高的效率，并以几乎零成本生产清洁燃料。我们已经在世界上第一次在这种纳米线阵列上实现了太阳能人工光合作用，包括一步太阳能到氢气的转换。在这个项目中，我们建议使用宽带金属氮化物（InGaN）纳米线阵列，在太阳直接照射下，将CO2高效光还原为包括甲醇在内的清洁燃料。包括NiO在内的各种助催化剂将用于实现显著提高的效率和选择性。这种新方法通过模仿自然光合作用过程并采用工程纳米材料，有望为捕获、洗涤和储存二氧化碳排放提供一种替代的增值方法。拟议的CO2光还原提供了新的技术，可以很容易地与目前的工业过程中的捕获和储存的CO2，并可以转化为商业系统。该项目准备为解决我们今天面临的两个关键挑战提供范式转变：全球变暖和化石燃料枯竭。

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is recognized as the primary greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. This project is related to the capture and chemical transformation of CO2, thereby reducing its concentration in the atmosphere. The proposed photocatalytic route, compared to the conventional methods for CO2 scrubbing, involves only the use of sunlight and water, and the CO2 hydrogenation reaction takes place at room temperature. In principle, it can be of extremely high efficiency and lead to the production of clean fuels at nearly zero cost. We have already achieved, for the first time in the world, solar-powered artificial photosynthesis on such nanowire arrays, including the one-step solar-to-hydrogen conversion. In this project, we propose to demonstrate high efficiency photo-reduction of CO2 into clean fuels including methanol under direct solar irradiation using broadband metal-nitride (InGaN) nanowire arrays. Various co-catalysts, including NiO, will be employed to achieve significantly enhanced efficiency and selectivity. This novel approach, by mimicking the natural photosynthesis process and by employing engineered nanomaterials, is expected to provide an alternative, value-added approach to the capture, scrubbing, and storage of CO2 emissions. The proposed photo-reduction of CO2 offers novel technologies that can be readily integrated with the current industrial process for the capture and storage of CO2 and can be transformed into commercial systems. This project is poised to provide a paradigm shift in addressing two critical challenges we face today: global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels.