Methanol production from carbon dioxide by photocatalytic reduction process

• Main Author: Siti Zubidah, Jamrus
• Format: Undergraduates Project Papers
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: QC Physics
• Online Access: http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/7572/1/SITI_ZUBIDAH_JAMRUS.PDF; http://umpir.ump.edu.my/id/eprint/7572/

T he large scale of carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere is one of the most interesting problems in the industry. The primary contributor to the greenhouse phenomenon is carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels of combustion. The current innovations to decrease the amount of CO 2 in atmosphere photo catalytic processes that also use of solar energy for reaction. This study was mainly focusing on the effect of different catalysts and medium solution on the methanol's performance. There are three types of commercial catalysts used which were titanium dioxide, zinc oxide and zeolite. The different medium of the solution are sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and water (H 2 0). The characterization of morphology of catalyst is conducted by using Scanning Electron Microscope. The methanol performance is determined by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). From the characterization of catalyst, Ti0 2 have small spherical uniform shapes are the criteria to enhance it light absorption which might be beneficial for its photocatalytic activity enhancement compared to ZnO and zeolite. Ti0 2 should be selected and NaOH solution is most suitable medium of solution for the future photocatalytic reduction process of CO 2. The maximum concentration of methanol in NaOH solution was produced at 15.8 13x10 3 g/L compared to ZnO and zeolite only produced at 8.616x10 3 g/L and 8.557x10 3 g/L, respectively.