Lowering carbon emissions with cerium oxide catalysts

What is it about?

Excessive carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere is a major cause of global warming. Reducing CO₂ levels in air is, therefore, very important. One way to do this is by converting CO₂ to useful products, such as fuels and chemicals. This conversion is done using “catalysts,” compounds that speed up chemical reactions. However, a catalyst with good performance is not yet available. Luckily, the compound cerium oxide, or “ceria”, can offer some hope. In this paper, the authors reviewed how ceria helps with CO₂ conversion, and how its performance can be improved. The authors looked at three kinds of conversion reactions. They found that ceria’s performance can be improved in many ways. These include adding metal ions, forming mixed oxides, and changing its structure. Additionally, making ceria catalysts with high surface area and more active sites also improves performance. The authors suggested that looking at how ceria performs in other kinds of CO₂ conversion reactions can also be useful.

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Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash

Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Global warming is a serious problem that needs a solution. One of the major reasons behind global warming is CO₂. Reducing CO₂ pollution is, thus, critical. Luckily, CO₂ can be converted into many useful products. These include gases like methane and ethane, which are useful as fuels. CO₂ can also be converted to methanol, which has many applications. Therefore, finding a good catalyst to convert CO₂ efficiently is worthwhile. KEY TAKEAWAY: Cerium oxide can be very useful in converting CO₂ because of its unique properties. This not only helps reduce global warming but also provides valuable products for real world applications.