Reactor uses sunlight to make hydrocarbon fuel

January 12, 2011

Researchers have developed a reactor that can rapidly produce fuel from sunlight, using carbon dioxide and water, plus a compound called ceric oxide.

This process is akin to the way plants grow, using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugar-based polymers and aromatics.

Plants grow by using energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide into sugar-based polymers and aromatics.

These compounds in turn can be stripped of their oxygen, either through thousands of years of underground degradation to yield fossil fuels, or through a rather more rapid process of dissolution, fermentation and hydrogenation to yield biofuels.

Yet right now, converting sunlight into a chemical fuel isn’t the most effective process, and practical generation of solar fuels remains a long way off.

Researchers have recently been exploring alternative possibilities of using sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuel without relying on the intervening steps of plant growth and breakdown.

William Chueh and colleagues now demonstrate one possible reactor design, in which concentrated sunlight heats ceric oxide—an oxide of the rare earth metal cerium—to a high enough temperature to shake loose some oxygen from its lattice.

The material then readily strips oxygen atoms from either water or carbon dioxide to replace what’s missing, yielding hydrogen or carbon monoxide (which in turn can be combined to form fuels using additional catalysts).

With a windowed aperture through which concentrated sunlight enters, the solar-cavity reactor is designed to internally reflect light multiple times, ensuring efficient capture of incoming solar energy.

Cylindrical pieces of ceric oxide sit inside the cavity and are subjected to hundreds of several heat-cool cycles to induce fuel production.

The study was published last week in the journal Science.

More information: "High-Flux Solar-Driven Thermochemical Dissociation of CO2 and H₂O Using Nonstoichiometric Ceria," by W.C. Chueh; M. Abbott; D. Scipio; S.M. Haile at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, CA; C. Falter; P. Furler; A. Steinfeld at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland; A. Steinfeld at Solar Technology Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, Switzerland. Science, January 2011.

Source: AAAS

Source

IP

WIPO

(WO/2009/055037) THERMOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF FUELS FOR STORING THERMAL ENERGY

ABSTRACT: The present invention provides a method for storing thermal energy, such as solar energy, as a fuel, by heating a reactive oxide substrate to a first temperature, such that the reactive oxide substrate is reduced, wherein the reactive oxide substrate includes a cerium oxide. The method also includes contacting the reduced reactive oxide substrate at a second temperature with a gas mixture including carbon dioxide, wherein the first temperature is greater than the second temperature, thereby preparing the fuel. The present invention also provides a method for preparing the reactive oxide substrates by heating a mixture including a doped cerium oxide and a pore-forming agent, such that pores are formed in the doped cerium oxide, thereby forming the reactive oxide substrate. Source

US

United States Patent Application	20090107044
Kind Code	A1
Haile; Sossina M. ; et al.	April 30, 2009

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THERMOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF FUELS FOR STORING THERMAL ENERGY

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for storing thermal energy, such as solar energy, as a fuel, by heating a reactive oxide substrate to a first temperature, such that the reactive oxide substrate is reduced, wherein the reactive oxide substrate includes a cerium oxide. The method also includes contacting the reduced reactive oxide substrate at a second temperature with a gas mixture including carbon dioxide, wherein the first temperature is greater than the second temperature, thereby preparing the fuel. The present invention also provides a method for preparing the reactive oxide substrates by heating a mixture including a doped cerium oxide and a pore-forming agent, such that pores are formed in the doped cerium oxide, thereby forming the reactive oxide substrate.

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Inventors:

Haile; Sossina M.; (Pasadena, CA) ; Chueh; William C.; (Pasadena, CA)

Source

US PAIR [Insert 20090107044 in "Publication Number" and hit "Search"]

Patent Application Information Retrieval
	Order Certified Application As Filed Order Certified File Wrapper View Order List 12/257,840 THERMOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF FUELS FOR STORING THERMAL ENERGY

OLED + CNT = KEESMANN

Here's the future - lighting AND TV - and remember - CNTs emitting electrons = KEESMANN:

ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DIODES WITH STRUCTURED ELECTRODES

Applicants: THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Abstract:
A cathode that contain nanostructures that extend into the organic layer of an OLED has been described. The cathode can have an array of nanotubes or a layer of nanoclusters extending out from its surface. In another arrangement, the cathode is patterned and etched to form protruding nanostructures using a standard lithographic process. Various methods for fabricating these structures are provided, all of which are compatible with large-scale manufacturing. OLEDs made with these novel electrodes have greatly enhanced electron injection, have good environmental stability.



[0008]As shown in the schematic in FIG. 1, an OLED 100 has an emissive layer 110, a transport layer 120, an anode 130 and a cathode 140, all on a substrate 150. The layers 110, 120 are made of organic semiconducting small molecules or polymers. When a voltage is applied across the OLED 100 such that the anode 120 is positive with respect to the cathode 140, the cathode 140 injects electrons 145 into the emissive layer 110 and the anode 130 injects holes 135 into the transport layer 120. The electrons 145 and the holes 135 move toward each other and they recombine. The recombination produces an emission of radiation 160 whose frequency is typically in the visible, may also be in the infrared and ultraviolet regions.



Nanotube and Nanocluster Cathodes

[0022]FIG. 2 is a schematic cross section drawing that shows an embodiment of the invention that uses a nanotube-based cathode. An OLED 200 has a cathode 240, a light-emitting organic layer 210, a transport layer 220, an anode 230, and a substrate 250. The anode 230 may be made of a transparent material, such as indium tin oxide (ITO) and the substrate 250 may be any known substrate such as plastic, glass, and the like. Light may be emitted in the direction of arrows 260 or in the opposite direction.

[0023]The cathode 240 has a plurality of nanostructures 242 extending outwardly into the light-emitting organic layer 210. The nanostructures 242 may be any type of structure such as nanotubes, nonorods, or nanoclusters. The nanostructures 242 can be nanotubes grown out from a cathode substrate 240. Alternatively, the nanostructures 242 can be nanoclusters deposited onto the cathode substrate 240.

[0024]Nanotubes are good field emitters because of their small tip radii, which can range from approximately one nanometer to as much as a micron. The smaller the tip radius the stronger the concentration of the electric field at the tip. A high electric field at the tip causes a high electron ejection rate, which results in very efficient ejection of electrons. In addition to improving electron injection from the cathode 240 to the light-emitting organic layer 210, the small tips and even distribution of the nanotubes 242 provide a balanced charge distribution in the device, reduce exciton quenching near the cathode 240, and allow for the use of lower voltages to achieve electron emission. Furthermore, carbon nanotubes are chemically stable, decreasing the environmental sensitivity of the cathode 240.

USPTO
WIPO