Engineers at the University of Illinois Chicago have developed a low-cost artificial leaf that can capture carbon dioxide 100 times more efficiently than current systems. This artificial leaf works in the real environment, unlike other carbon capture systems that work in labs using pure carbon dioxide from pressure tanks. It takes carbon dioxide from more diluted sources, such as air and flue gas from coal-fired power plants, and converts it into fuel and other products.
Meenesh Singh, assistant professor of chemical engineering in the UIC College of Engineering said, “Our artificial leaf system can be deployed outside the lab, where it has the potential to play an important role in decreasing greenhouse gases in the air based on the high rate of carbon capture, relatively low cost, and moderate energy.”
