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Converting Carbon Dioxide to Methane

7/21/2017

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I hope you all are getting a chance to relax and rejuvenate during this Summer of 2017!
 
The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
It will take a few weeks for the book to get to you, so ORDER NOW!  You’ll want to have some time before the school year starts to see how you can use the book Chemistry on a Budget in your class.
 
*Some of you have already purchased Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
“Duke University researchers have developed tiny nanoparticles that help convert carbon dioxide into methane using only ultraviolet light as an energy source.
Having found a catalyst that can do this important chemistry using ultraviolet light, the team now hopes to develop a version that would run on natural sunlight, a potential boon to alternative energy.”
https://today.duke.edu/2017/02/light-driven-reaction-converts-carbon-dioxide-fuel
 
A similar effect was obtained in 2016 by researchers at the University of Illinois:
“While plants produce fuel in the form of sugar, the artificial leaf delivers syngas, or synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide. Syngas can be burned directly, or converted into diesel or other hydrocarbon fuels.
The ability to turn CO2 into fuel at a cost comparable to a gallon of gasoline would render fossil fuels obsolete.
Chemical reactions that convert CO2 into burnable forms of carbon are called reduction reactions, the opposite of oxidation or combustion. Engineers have been exploring different catalysts to drive CO2 reduction, but so far such reactions have been inefficient and rely on expensive precious metals such as silver...”
https://phys.org/news/2016-07-breakthrough-solar-cell-captures-carbon.html
 
And another article describes another method to produce methane from carbon dioxide.  This article is a little more challenging to read:
“A doubly substituted form of the nitrogenase MoFe protein (α-70Val→Ala, α-195His→Gln) has the capacity to catalyze the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to yield methane (CH4). … The catalytic rate depends on the partial pressure of CO2 (or concentration of HCO3−) and the electron flux through nitrogenase. The doubly substituted MoFe protein also has the capacity to catalyze the unprecedented formation of propylene (H2C = CH-CH3) through the reductive coupling of CO2 and acetylene (HC≡CH). In light of these observations, we suggest that an emerging understanding of the mechanistic features of nitrogenase could be relevant to the design of synthetic catalysts for CO2 sequestration and formation of olefins.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3511747/
 
There is not much news on the Internet right now about any of these developments in converting carbon dioxide, CO2, to methane, CH4.  This shows that several scientists work  on similar problems to either explore the problem and develop new technologies, or to replicate another scientist’s method.

​Carbon dioxide contributes to climate change and the methane produced is a renewable fuel source that could reduce the use of fossil fuels and nuclear power.   This research is required before developing any of these technologies.

 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!


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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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