Degree Name
MS (Master of Science)
Program
Chemistry
Date of Award
8-2019
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Dane Scott
Committee Members
Scott Kirkby, Marina Roginskaya, Greg Bishop
Abstract
There is a need to develop techniques for conversion of carbon dioxide to other useful products such as methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, formate, methane, and hydrocarbons. Carbon dioxide can be converted into these products using different methods such as photochemical, electrochemical, thermochemical and hydrogenation by bacteria. Formate is of interest due to its wide industrial applications which include it’s use in direct liquid fuel cells, as an additive in pyrolysis vapors, a precursor for biological fuels, and it is a key intermediate in methanogenesis breaking down complex organic compounds. In this work, conversion of carbon dioxide to formate was accomplished photochemically. The concentration of formate obtained was quantified using ion chromatography. The yield of formate, based on the amount of carbon dioxide in solution, was 1.54%, while the quantum yield was near 2.0%. Detailed studies of the photoreduction process showed that the amount of sensitizer, light intensity and pH affect the amount of formate generated.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Omadoko, Ovuokenye, "Simple Photochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide to Formate" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3609. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3609
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.