Govind Tekale
MIT engineers have achieved a 10x boost in CO₂-to-ethylene conversion efficiency through an innovative electrode design - what makes this breakthrough so crucial for our planet?
Photo Source- MIT
Professor Kripa Varanasi's team devised a surprisingly simple solution: weaving copper wires through ultra-thin PTFE sheets to create super-efficient electrodes.
The stakes are high: Converting CO₂ into ethylene at $1,000 per ton could revolutionize both plastic production and fuel creation.
While previous attempts failed at larger scales, MIT's new electrode maintains peak performance across bigger surface areas.
How does splitting the material into smaller subsegments solve one of the biggest challenges in CO₂ conversion?
The team's electrode ran continuously for 75 hours with minimal performance loss - a remarkable achievement in sustainability testing.
MIT's solution scales beyond traditional 5-centimeter laboratory limits, making industrial implementation feasible.
The manufacturing process integrates seamlessly with existing roll-to-roll systems, reducing adoption barriers.
Professor Varanasi's team, backed by Shell through MIT Energy Initiative, targets processing gigatons of CO₂ annually with this breakthrough technology.
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