Efficiency of galliumYes it seems a valid process, as I didnt see a major problem with it, unless it doesnt scale well. Even if it didnt do well on a large scale, many smaller units might even help with local CO2 production as in autos/trucks.
I didnt notice in the previous work that sonication and lots of nano-technology was involved, and I need to look into the term triboelectrochemical reactions for Dummies. See below!
Triboelectric A Chemical Potential ...ctions on Solid–Liquid Interfaces This wouldnt inhibit my experiments as I have lots of sonicators around including a flow cell sonicator.
I bet it would work with liquid mercury, what could go wrong with that? Other than a mad hatter scenario, but who would notice?
TAT
The reactor also contains nano-sized solid silver rods that are the key to generating the triboelectrochemical reactions that take place once mechanical energy (e.g. stirring/mixing) is introduced.
“We have already scaled this system up to 2.5 liters dimensions, which can deal with around 0.1 liter of carbon dioxide per minute.â€
“And we’ve tested that running continuously for a whole month and the efficiency of the system did not degrade.â€
The process dissolves captured carbon dioxide gas into a solvent around nanoparticles of gallium. The reactor also contains nano-sized solid silver rods that are the key to generating the triboelectrochemical reactions that take place once mechanical energy (e.g. stirring/mixing) is introduced.
A triboelectrochemical reaction occurs in solid–liquid interfaces due to friction between the two surfaces, with an electric field also created that sparks a chemical reaction.
The reactions break the carbon dioxide into oxygen gas, as well as carbonaceous sheets which ‘float’ to the surface of the container due to differences in density and can therefore be easily extracted.
The scientists obtained 92% efficiency at the remarkably low input energy of 230 kWh for the capture and conversion of a ton of carbon dioxide.
They estimate this equates to a cost of around $100 per ton of carbon dioxide.
