Scientists Build Artificial Leaves That Can Absorb Carbon Dioxide Faster Than Real Leaves

Plants are natural air purifiers for our planet, taking in carbon dioxide and expelling oxygen through photosynthesis.

The thing is, we're constantly removing chunks of Earth's leaf cover, so we might have to find a way to help out Mother Nature.

Reuters

That's where this latest device from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) comes in. The researchers there have built what they're calling "artificial leaves". These mimic the process that occurs in real plants, turning CO2 into breathable oxygen.

Most importantly though, researchers have been able to develop artificial leaves before, they just only worked in pressurized containers. This latest design however is capable of pulling CO2 from the air, making it real world-viable.

To do this, the team placed their artificial leaf inside a water-filled capsule with a semi-permeable membrane. When sunlight hits the water it slowly evaporates it, letting it escape through the membrane. This process slowly sucks in carbon dioxide through the membrane, where the device can get to work.

Also Read: Indian Scientists Create An Artificial Leaf That Can Turn Sunlight And Water Into Clean Energy

The artificial leaf converts the carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide and oxygen. From here, the oxygen can be released into the air or collected, while the harmful gas can be pulled from the device and used to create synthetic fuels like methanol.

"By enveloping traditional artificial leaf technology inside this specialized membrane," UIC researcher Meenesh Singh said in a press release, "the whole unit is able to function outside, like a natural leaf."

University of Illinois, Chicago

The team is incredibly confident, and believe their artificial leaf design is 10 times more efficient than even natural leaves. Based on their estimates, 360 of these artificial leaves, each 1.7 meters by 0.2 meters in dimensions, would be able to generate about half a ton of carbon monoxide everyday.

More importantly, they say that spreading out those leaves in a 500 square metre area would let them lower the CO2 levels in the space by 10 percent in a single day.

"Our conceptual design uses readily available materials and technology," Singh said, "that when combined can produce an artificial leaf that is ready to be deployed outside the lab where it can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere."