Question: what is it that intrests you most about carbon dioxide?

Helen Pritchard-Smith answered on 18 Jun 2013:

It is an inert (non-reactive) molecule present in our atmosphere in 0.04%. We have been producing tonnes of it since the industrial revolution and have recently realised that is it bad for the atmosphere and is one of the major causes of global warming (melting of ice caps, flooding, unpredictable weather etc).

Carbon capture techniques prevent carbon dioxide created by power stations and other large energy producing industries being released into the atmosphere, it is then purified and stored in large metal cylinders but nobody wants it as it is so unreactive.

Carbon dioxide gas is stuffed under high pressure into a metal cylinder and delivered to me at university (i will take a photo of it and put it on my page). I attach a pressure gauge and fill an autoclave [IMAGE 2] with carbon dioxide during my reaction.

This reaction makes a seemingly dull gas (carbon dioxide) that is floating around you right now combine with another more reactive gas (1,3 butadiene) using palladium (check your periodic table, it is in the middle part – can you see it?) and makes something useful.

I want to make a difference, taking something like carbon dioxide that doesn’t like to react with other things and would otherwise be damaging our atmosphere and make it into something useful like a plastic or grease for machines is really cool (in my humble opinion).