{"id":21350,"date":"2017-04-25T09:22:14","date_gmt":"2017-04-25T13:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=21350"},"modified":"2017-10-30T14:29:46","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T18:29:46","slug":"ucf-chemistry-professor-discovers-energy-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-chemistry-professor-discovers-energy-breakthrough\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Chemistry Professor Discovers Energy Breakthrough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"A chemistry professor in Florida has just found a way to trigger the process of photosynthesis in a synthetic material, turning greenhouse gases into clean air and producing energy all at the same time.<\/p>\n

The process has great potential for creating a technology that could significantly reduce greenhouse gases linked to climate change, while also creating a clean way to produce energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis work is a breakthrough,\u201d said UCF Assistant Professor Fernando Uribe-Romo, Ph.D. \u201cTailoring materials that will absorb a specific color of light is very difficult from the scientific point of view, but from the societal point of view we are contributing to the development of a technology that can help reduce greenhouse gases.\u201d<\/p>\n

The findings of his research are published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Uribe-Romo and his team of students created a way to trigger a chemical reaction in a synthetic material called metal\u2013organic frameworks (MOF) that breaks down carbon dioxide into harmless organic materials. Think of it as an artificial photosynthesis process similar to the way plants convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and sunlight into food. But instead of producing food, Uribe-Romo\u2019s method produces solar fuel.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something scientists around the world have been pursuing for years, but the challenge is finding a way for visible light to trigger the chemical transformation. Ultraviolet rays have enough energy to allow the reaction in common materials such as titanium dioxide, but UVs make up only about 4 percent of the light Earth receives from the sun. The visible range \u2013 the violet to red wavelengths \u2013 represent the majority of the sun\u2019s rays, but there are few materials that pick up these light colors to create the chemical reaction that transforms CO2 into fuel.<\/p>\n