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I haven't really had time to do any #solarpunkactionweekstuff, sadly, because I'm hella busy right now.
Though admittedly, the stuff I'm busy with is artificial photosynthesis – looking for molecules which can use sunlight to capture CO2 and store energy while alleviating the effects of global warming.
...which... probably?... counts...?
By the way, feel free to ask me more about this stuff, if you're curious. I'm always happy to share knowledge.
@fiona You were asking about this before, weren't you...?
@InvaderXan LOL at "probably counts"!!!!
@InvaderXan this would suggest that these plants would grow better in space?
I'm picturing a world where people have to go to space to farm oxygen by tending plants. ^_^
@abrahms
I don’t think anyone’s experimented on that actually. It’s an interesting idea... one to play with in sci fi for now, perhaps.
(That red line up there isn’t a plant though, it’s an artificial photocatalyst)
@InvaderXan
Okay this looks super cool and I'm super interested in your work; I've got a silly question for you tho, what color is Ru(bipy)3?
@Achidyemay
In crystalline form, it's red. Dissolved in water, it turns yellow. When you illuminate it with UV (or lasers), it fluoresces and glows with a pink/orange colour.
@InvaderXan This is awesome!!! I almost missed it because your tag didn't work properly, though
@actionweek
Oh monkeyfeathers, there’s a typo in there. Im sorry, my typing has been terrible today!
And thanks!
@InvaderXan hi I love that we are friends cause this is my jam.
@darkouille
Oui, je suis un post-doctorant.
@InvaderXan I would love to know more! What processes are you looking at? How is the work progressing? How do you see the technology being applied? Got any papers you're able to share? How long have you been at it?
This would probably be super awesome for space stations, actual plants are tricky in microgravity and the carbon scrubbers they have now need new filters shipping up every so often...
@RedFuture
So...
* The basic process involves charge separation and flow of electrons, a lot like in photosynthesis. Plants use this to split water. I'm hoping to use it to directly split carbon dioxide, if that's even possible.
* It's progressing steadily, but slower than I'd like. There are a lot of people working on carbon sequestration. Finding something that works well is easier said than done. Being a theorist, I hope to help narrow things down.
* The ultimate goal is to apply it on a large scale. Pulling CO2 from the air gives a source of hydrocarbons which doesn't use fossil sources. This could either be used as carbon-neutral fuel (short term) or be used for permanent removal of CO2 from the atmosphere (longer term).
* Here's a summary from a 2017 conference, which should be open source: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2017/fd/c7fd00133a#!divAbstract
* Not long. A few months. I hope I can get more funding for next year...
@RedFuture
And space stations... I don't see why this kind of thing can't work together with plants. NASA have been studying how to grow things in orbit for decades, after all. The only difficulty is growing enough of them, so an artificial system could help out where required.
@InvaderXan Improved RuBisCo? I don't know if that is the same thing but was thinking of it randomly yesterday
@scattergather
Not quite. The things I'm looking at are more like chlorophyll molecules.
@InvaderXan Really cool. I tried to switch careers into plant bio a while back but life had other plans. I had dreams of working with heirloom crops to breed varieties specifically suited for the needs of organic agriculture.
@scattergather
Life often has other plans, sadly. Pity too, that sounds like an interesting thing to work on!
@InvaderXan awesome