The Alluring Element That Could Help Remove Carbon From The Atmosphere

Wednesday - February 14 2024, 14:56 UTC - 9 months ago

Oregon State University researchers have discovered that vanadium, a transition metal named after a Scandinavian goddess, has the potential to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This research is part of a $24 million effort to improve direct air capture technologies. Other transition metals, like rhenium and molybdenum, were also found to be effective in removing carbon dioxide.

Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, and as a result, scientists are increasingly looking for ways to mitigate the effects of climate change. One promising solution is direct air capture (DAC), which involves removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. One element that may play a key role in this process is vanadium.Vanadium is a transition metal named after the Scandinavian goddess of love, Vanadis .

Its vibrant colors and striking properties make it a popular element in the industry. Now, research by Oregon State University (OSU) has shown that vanadium has the potential to be an effective carbon scrubbing tool.In 2021, OSU's May Nyman was selected as the leader of one of nine direct air capture projects funded by the Department of Energy. Her team is exploring how some transition metal complexes can react with air to remove carbon dioxide and convert it to a metal carbonate, similar to what is found in many naturally occurring minerals .

One of the challenges of direct air capture is finding molecules or materials that are selective enough to remove just carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Nyman's team synthesized a series of new molecules that contain vanadium and peroxide, bonded together with alkali cations for charge balance. These molecules were found to effectively pull carbon dioxide from the air.But it wasn't just vanadium that proved to be an effective carbon scrubber .

The team also experimented with other transition metal complexes, like tungsten, niobium, and tantalum. However, the results showed that only vanadium, rhenium, and molybdenum were effective in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.While the experimental work was being conducted at OSU, theoretical collaborators at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory used computational methods to predict which molecules would be good candidates for pulling carbon from the air .

While the results were promising, further research is needed to determine if these molecules can be recreated on a larger scale for practical use.The ultimate goal of this research is to develop improved methods for direct air capture of carbon dioxide. While facilities that filter carbon from the air are still in their infancy, they will likely play a crucial role in mitigating the effects of climate change .

And with vanadium at the forefront of this research, it's clear that this element named after a goddess has the potential to protect our planet for generations to come.