Coated Aerogel Electrodes for Photoelectrochemical Methanol Formation

Due to the current oil crisis, the United States has begun to focus on alternative energy sources for transportation and other domestic applications. Methanol offers a renewable alternative to many fossil fuels that can be a raw material for the synthetic hydrocarbons and their products. ISL proposes to fabricate a photo-electrochemical cell that converts carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas which can be captured from effluent streams from production plants, directly to methanol through the use of sunlight. InnoSense LLC (ISL) will develop an efficient method to convert carbon dioxide into methanol. Through the utilization of a photo-electrochemical cell, ISL will directly convert carbon dioxide and water to methanol and hydrogen with an overall efficiency greater than 6%. ISL will fabricate a photo-electrochemical cell with a carbon-modified titanium dioxide coated aerogel anode and a flame-treated copper cathode. The cell will be completely powered by sunlight, eliminating the need for an external bia. The impingent sunlight will induce a surface reaction that will convert the starting materials to the valuable products. ISL intends to fabricate a cell with at least 6% efficiency. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits: The utilization of methanol as a fuel is attractive. Currently alcohols as fuels are utilized in Indy car racing providing higher octane levels than gasoline products. Moreover, methanol burns more efficiently in comparison to gasoline and does not contain polluting sulfur-containing compounds.