Although less abundant than carbon dioxide, methane gas contributes disproportionately to global warming. Its molecular structure of individual carbon related to four hydrogen atoms makes it a potentially useful building block for products that could keep this carbon from the atmosphere, but it is difficult to get to react with other molecules in ordinary conditions.
Now a catalyst designed by a myth chemical engineer Michael foreign and colleagues could help solve the problem.
The catalyst has two components. The first, mineral mineral called Zeolite, turns methane into methanol. Another, natural enzyme called alcohol oxidase, converts methanol to formaldehyde. With the addition of urea, a molecule that contains a nitrogen that contains in urine, formaldehyde can be converted into a polymer used in Iver, textiles and other products.
Researchers say this catalyticist could act for sealing cracks in pipes that transport natural gas, a common source of methane leak. It can also be used for coat of surfaces that are exposed to methane gas, polymer production that could be collected for use in production.
“Other systems operate at high temperature and high pressure,” says Mit Postdoc Jimin Kim, lead author with Daniel Lundberg ’24, of paper at work. That takes money and energy. But he says, “I think our system could be very cost-effective and scalable.”
