Author: admin

Decarbonization, let’s CX with DX.

In Japan, there is a superstition that says that foxes transform and scare people.

Let’s try to think of what chemistry can do for decarbonization.

Plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) to make their own bodies. This is called carbonic anabolism.
I used to be a polymer synthesizer, so I think that plants make polymers from CO2.

If we can do the same thing with chemistry, then we have fixed CO2.
The reaction between CO2 and epoxy compounds has been well known for a long time. It produces a compound called carbonate.
You may not be familiar with a compound called carbonate. They are usually found in lithium-ion batteries. (It may not be used in the future because it is flammable.) The plastic used to make DVDs and other disks is a polymer of carbonate called polycarbonate.
So, I thought of CX, which is Chemical Transformation, to immobilize CO2 and transform it into something useful, just like plants.

If you look up various papers on the Internet, you will find the following.

Synthesis of Propylene Carbonate from Epoxide and CO2 Catalyzed by Carbon Nanotubes Supported Fe1.5PMo12O40

Tahani Al-Garni, Nada Al-Jallal, and Ahmed Aouissi
Hindawi　Journal of Chemistry　Volume 2017

The variables are temperature, pressure of CO2, reaction time, and amount of catalyst to get the conversion of epoxy and the selectivity of carbonate.
The data I used would look like this. Try to do your own analysis.

As you can see from the graphs, dependency is a curve, so it is difficult to make a formula for estimation.
I will discuss how to make the formula in the MAGICIAN training course, and here we will see what to do once the formula is obtained.

Move the slider to set the experimental conditions, and click the Calculate button. It will return the results of the calculation using the formula we created.

Temperature (℃）

CO2 Pressure (MPa)

Time (hr)

Catalyst (g)


X

Once this is done, it is easy to make the AI look for experimental conditions that can be tried by humans but have even higher conversion rates and higher selectivity.

In this way, even if you are working CX, , you can see things that you could not see before with DX.
You may feel as if you are being lied to by a fox.