Oxide materials research for global environment and energy with a focus on CO_2 fixation into polymers

摘要

Representing the gas, liquid, and solid phase materials on the earth under the standard conditions, CO_2, H_2O, and SiO_2 attract my interest for their natural abundance, chemical stability, and yet fundamental roles in energy and environmental problems. Chemical consideration is made on the utilization of these stable resources for renewable clean energy materials and processes based on a thermodynamic approximation. A general scheme is presented to compare the utilization of CO_2, H_2O, and SiO_2 for such purposes as CO_2 fixation into functional polymers, photosynthesis of carbohydrates from CO_2 and H_2O, and solar silicon production from SiO_2. Focused is CO_2 copolymerization, since it is originated from our discovery of alternating CO_2-epoxide (oxirane) copolymer in 1968 and it has been revived by the recent industrialization of this unique bio-degradable polymer in China. New ideas of using combinatorial chemical technology and soft plasma processing for fixing CO_2 into polymers are proposed together with some preliminary experimental results.