Plasmonic technology is likely to reshape the very future of carbon treatment/management from around the world. Carbon management is a reality and an issue that concerns the entire humanity, and it is important to use cutting-edge technologies to control carbon. There are many ways to control or manage carbon footprint, but the emerging plasmonic technology might as well determine the direction of carbon control in the future. With climate change and global warming jeopardizing the future of our next generations, developing new and productive ways to manage and recycle carbon is extremely important for the entire world.
Carbon Dioxide is a global issue and greenhouse emissions, as well as other sources of carbon emission, have already endangered the entire planet. However, this waste can be turned into treasure by using plasmonic technologies, which are also emerging to be known as 'Plasmonic Nano-catalysis'. It basically recycles the carbon dioxide and uses natural light to convert this dangerous waste into useful material. Humanity is aiming to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. This is not an easy task and to accomplish this task, the ultimate solution to carbon waste management is to recycle carbon and turn it into something more useful.
To achieve absolute carbon neutrality, the emerging new Plasmonic technology offers one of the most cutting-edge directions in the microscopic era and has a wide range of applications in surface-enhanced spectroscopy, solar cells, metamaterials, nonlinear optics, and also in the field of nano-catalysis. In physics, a plasmon is a quantum of plasma oscillation. Just as light (an optical oscillation) consists of photons, the plasma oscillation basically consists of plasmons.
Plasmonic technology has already been successfully used to make natural gas from carbon dioxide and water, which is a revolutionary step, especially due to the growing energy crisis around the world. Moreover, plasmonic nano-catalysts are also making great progress and it is being used as a photo- and thermal-catalyst especially to synthesize liquid products of long-chain alkane components such as gasoline and diesel, as well as gaseous products such as natural gas and ethylene.
Out of all the countries around the world seeking carbon neutrality, China is leading the way by taking practical actions and using plasmonic technology instead of other contemporary outdated methods. In the "Guidelines Regarding Application of 2022 Key Projects: Catalysis Science" issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the PR China in Feb. 2022, the 'surface plasmon resonance catalysis' was titled as one of the major categories. Studies on plasmonic catalysis are carried out in many of the leading universities and institutes in China such as Zhengzhou University, Southeast University, and Institute of Microelectronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
China is aiming to implement the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality with practical actions and one very promising way of accomplishing that is by using plasmonic technology. In this regard, a Chinese company called Guanghe New Energy Co., Ltd. working with IPE of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Baowu Steel Group is playing a key role in making this happen. A lot of research and development is also taking place in this regard and scholars from some of the leading Chinese universities and tech institutes are making an effort on this research and looking forward to making their own contributions.
