A team of researchers from MIT has developed a new catalyst that can convert methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into useful polymers. This breakthrough could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide a valuable resource for manufacturing.
A team of researchers from MIT has developed a new catalyst that can convert methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into useful polymers. This breakthrough could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide a valuable resource for manufacturing.
Methane is produced by bacteria known as methanogens, which are often highly concentrated in landfills, swamps, and other sites of decaying biomass. Agriculture is a major source of methane, and methane gas is also generated as a byproduct of transporting, storing, and burning natural gas. Overall, it is believed to account for about 15 percent of global temperature increases.
The new catalyst works at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, which could make it easier and more economical to deploy at sites of methane production, such as power plants and cattle barns. The catalyst consists of a zeolite called iron-modified aluminum silicate paired with an enzyme called alcohol oxidase.
The hybrid catalyst performs a two-step reaction in which the zeolite converts methane to methanol, and then the enzyme converts methanol to formaldehyde. This series of reactions can occur at room temperature and doesn’t require high pressure. The catalyst particles are suspended in water, which can absorb methane from the surrounding air.
The researchers envision that this catalyst could be incorporated into pipes used to transport natural gas. Within those pipes, the catalyst could generate a polymer that could act as a sealant to heal cracks in the pipes, which are a common source of methane leakage. The catalyst could also be applied as a film to coat surfaces that are exposed to methane gas, producing polymers that could be collected for use in manufacturing.
The researchers are now working on catalysts that could be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and combine it with nitrate to produce urea. That urea could then be mixed with the formaldehyde produced by the zeolite-enzyme catalyst to produce urea-formaldehyde.
