Australian scientists are using Australia’s only nuclear reactor - the state-of-the-art OPAL research reactor - to solve one of the great environmental challenges: how to efficiently capture and manage carbon dioxide (CO2).
Human actions - particularly burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), agriculture and land clearing - are known to increase concentrations of greenhouse gases such as CO2.
Dr Vanessa K. Peterson, Energy Project Leader at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is one of a team of researchers that has been awarded a $6 million grant from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF).
The grant will fund research efforts to develop what are called advanced metal-organic framework (MOF) materials. MOFs are highly porous, multifunctional materials that can concentrate CO2 in ways that are more energy efficient than currently available technologies.
The research has the potential to deliver major breakthroughs in carbon capture and conversion technology, creating new ways to convert CO2 into useful substances such as polymers, industrial feed stocks, or hydrocarbon fuels.
Dr Peterson leads the neutron-scattering arm of this multi-disciplinary effort, which will use the neutron scattering instruments at ANSTO to probe information about how CO2 interacts with materials.
“The work we are doing is not only about capturing CO2 – something harmful for the environment - but also about potentially turning it into something beneficial,” Dr Peterson said.
ANSTO, located in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, is one of the few places in the world with infrastructure to perform the necessary measurements.
“With the OPAL research reactor and associated technology, we are able to make detailed measurements in controlled conditions, and see the results in real time,” Dr Peterson said.
“This has the potential to provide unique insights into how these materials function, and how they can be used or improved to reduce harmful greenhouse gases.”
The SIEF-funded “Solving the Energy Waste Roadblock” research team combines excellence in MOF synthesis, materials characterisation, and engineering. It includes 19 leading researchers from the CSIRO, the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, Monash University, the University of Melbourne, the University of Adelaide, and the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC).
For information on the project, go to the website of ANSTO’s Bragg Institute: www.ansto.gov.au/research/bragg_institute.
Published: 14/06/2012