From pollutant to profit -- nanoscience turns carbon on its head

Three new complementary research projects will turn carbon from a pollutant into useful products that could help both industry and the environment.

Nanotechnology solutions will be used to:

• convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into chemicals that could be used in fuel cells for laptops and mobile phones at University College London
• produce vehicle fuels from CO₂ using an 'artificial leaf' concept at Imperial College London
• remove CO₂ from the atmosphere and lock it into useful products such as polymers, carbohydrates or fuels at the Universities of Bath, Bristol and West of England.

The research is part of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 'Nanotechnology Grand Challenge' programme and will receive a total investment of £4m.

University College London scientists led by Professor Nora De Leeuw will work with Johnson Matthey to mimic biological systems and produce a catalytic reactor that can convert CO₂ into useful chemicals for applications such as fuel cells in laptops and mobile phones.

The reactor will use novel nano-catalysts based on compounds formed in warm springs on the ocean floor that are considered to have triggered the emergence of life. The team's design will take inspiration from biological systems that can carry out complex processes to convert CO₂ into biological material, and exploit a wide range of computational and experimental chemistry techniques.

Professor De Leeuw says: "If we were able to emulate nature and convert CO₂ into useful products without having to use large amounts of energy, the benefits would be enormous. One of the major gases responsible for climate change would become an important raw material for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries."

At Imperial College London and University College London a research team led by Dr Charlotte Williams will reduce CO¬2 with hydrogen, electrical energy or photon energy to produce vehicle fuels.

To achieve this, they will develop nanostructured catalysts that operate using solar or other renewable energy inputs. These will be used in a process that mimics CO¬2 activation in nature – an 'artificial leaf' concept – that effectively reverses the polluting process of burning fossil fuels. The team will collaborate with industrial partners Millennium Inorganic Chemicals, Cemex, Johnson Matthey and E.ON.

Dr Williams, of Imperial College London, says: "The key economic issue lies in decreasing the energy required for the processes. We hope to achieve this by developing new, highly active metal/metal oxide nanostructured catalysts, which offer superior performance."

The Universities of Bath, Bristol and the West of England are working together to produce materials that can remove CO¬2 from the atmosphere and lock it into useful products.

At the heart of the project, led by Dr Frank Marken at the University of Bath, will be a one-step process that links catalysts directly with a novel CO₂ absorber, and is powered by solar or an alternative renewable energy source. The resulting 'carbon lock-in' products include polymers, carbohydrates or fuels.

Dr Marken says: "Current processes rely on using separate technology to capture and utilise the CO₂, which makes the process very inefficient. By combining the processes the efficiency can be improved and the energy required to drive the CO₂ reduction is minimised."

The projects are part of Research Councils UK (RCUK) cross-Council programme 'Nanoscience: through Engineering to Application'. www.rcuk.ac.uk/nano

As part of the selection process, researchers were asked to consider potential environmental, health, societal and ethical concerns that may result from the innovation process. Using this responsible innovation approach, the projects all recognise that the solution to one problem should not create another.

The research will benefit a range of UK industries including companies that emit carbon dioxide in significant quantities, such as power suppliers, steel and aluminium manufacturers, fuel companies and fuel users.

The new technologies and materials produced by the research could create a new branch of manufacturing with worldwide distribution of carbon capture devices, and a new mechanism for carbon credit trading.

Last week the Department for Business Innovation and Skills published a cross-departmental strategy, 'UK Nanotechnologies Strategy: Opportunities Ahead', which stated that the global market in nanotechnologies is expected to grow from US$2.3 billion in 2007 to US$81 billion in 2015*.

* Nanomaterials and Markets 2008 - 2015, Nanopost, quoted in Nanoscale Technologies Strategy 2009 - 12, Technology Strategy Board,September 2009

UK Nanotechnologies Strategy: Opportunities Ahead can be downloaded from http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/nano/

Nanotechnology became a key strategy for the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in 2006. The EPSRC Nanotechnology Grand Challenge, under which these grants have been made, is part of the RCUK broader nanotechnology programme 'Nanoscience: through Engineering to Application', which is aimed at realising a transformational impact in areas that are important to society, such as energy, healthcare and the environment.

EPSRC is working with other Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board to deliver this programme.

£6.7m was allocated as part of the Energy Nanotechnology Grand Challenge in May 2008 and £16.5m was allocated to the Healthcare Nanotechnology Grand Challenge in May 2009.

All three projects will begin on 1 May 2010. Further additional funding for three years has been earmarked for the most successful projects with the expectation that the technology will be sufficiently advanced to secure further finance to advance application of the new technologies.

EPSRC is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and the physical sciences, investing more than £850 million a year in a broad range of subjects – from mathematics to materials science, and from information technology to structural engineering. www.epsrc.ac.uk

Research Councils UK is the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research Councils. We invest annually around £3 billion in research. Our focus is on excellence with impact. We nurture the highest quality research, as judged by international peer review providing the UK with a competitive advantage. Global research requires we sustain a diversity of funding approaches, fostering international collaborations, and providing access to the best facilities and infrastructure, and locating skilled researchers in stimulating environments. Our research achieves impact – the demonstrable contribution to society and the economy made by knowledge and skilled people. To deliver impact, researchers and businesses need to engage and collaborate with the public, business, government and the third sector. www.rcuk.ac.uk

For further information about the nanotechnology programmes, contact the EPSRC Press Office. Tel: 01793 444404 or e-mail: pressoffice@epsrc.ac.uk

An image is available from the EPSRC Press Office
Image: Green leaves.jpg
Suggested caption: Biological systems are the inspiration for nanotechnology research that will turn carbon dioxide into useful products

For further information about individual research projects follow the grant links below. Alternatively, contact the relevant university press officers:

University College London Press Office
Contact: Clare Ryan
Tel: 020 7679 9726 or clare.ryan@ucl.ac.uk
EPSRC grant details

University of Bath Press Office
Contact: Vicky Just
Tel: 07966 341357 or press@bath.ac.uk
EPSRC grant details

Imperial College London Press Office
Contact: Lucy Goodchild
Tel: 020 7594 6702 or email: lucy.goodchild@imperial.ac.uk
EPSRC grant details