posted on 2024-02-29, 17:05authored byAbd H. Babikir, Olawale Oloye, Kostya Ken Ostrikov, Anthony P. O’Mullane
Carbon dioxide emission is a major cause of environmental
concern,
such as global warming and ocean acidification. Therefore, there is
an ongoing search for feasible carbon dioxide reduction processes
that utilize renewable energy to convert CO2 into a valuable
product. Here, we report a versatile sonochemical process for the
permanent removal and conversion of carbon dioxide into acetamide
and liquid oxygenates using a Ga liquid metal-based reductant. Liquid
metals are ideal for CO2 reduction due to their notable
catalytic properties at low temperatures, nontoxicity, and relatively
low cost. The process involves ultrasonication of water-suspended
liquid Ga droplets, leading to the formation of GaOOH, which is further
sonicated in the presence of an aqueous solution of NH4OH with a CO2 feed at a low temperature of 70 °C.
Liquid C2 and C3 oxygenate products were formed
including industry-relevant acetamide, ethanol, and acetone platform
chemicals. In addition, solid-phase gallium nitride and oxynitride
nanomaterials were formed, which could be utilized in various catalytic
and electronic applications.