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New reactor produces clean energy and carbon nanotubes from natural gas

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-reactor-energy-carbon-nanotubes-natural.html
30•westurner•2h ago

Comments

PaulHoule•1h ago
A big research area, see "Turquoise Hydrogen"

https://www.aga.org/its-time-to-pay-attention-to-turquoise-h...

in contrast to "Grey Hydrogen" [1] made by steam reforming

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_reforming

The self-taught ChemE in me worries a little about any process that makes a solid product since that product could plate out inside the machine and clog it up, but maybe that's not really a problem here.

[1] "Blue" if you capture the CO2

westurner•1h ago
In a concept green fab design, I have pyrolysis of (fractionated) cellulose feeding CVD to make CNT (metallic CNT, nonmetallic (semiconducting (*)) CNT, A-CNT, VACNT), or Methane, or CO2.

Now that there's a scholarly article describing creation of air filters and CO2 filters out of graphene, CO2 capture that yields high carbon graphene wafers would also be useful to feed to a pyrolysis reactor that feeds to CVD.

The model indicated that CVD from pyrolysis of cellulose biofeedstock would yield 33% metallic CNTs and 67% non-metallic CNTs, which are semiconducting.

In this concept design at present, I have Lignin and Phytic acid to contain the Carbon Nanotubes so that the CNTs are not hazardous to life if they enter soil or water or are burnt.

A research question for basic research with real world applications:

If lignin is not enough to make the inflamed CNTs char instead of ~aerosolize, is the phosphorous in phytic acid would encase the CNT in phosphorus and char.

This is apparently already an issue because CNTs are added to various products - like synthetic tires - and the CNTs are ~aerosolized if burnt.

For safety in a production process, this model (Gemini3Pro) suggests that all-liquid low-pressure lower-tempetature processing of CNT would help to minimize risk.

showmexyz•1h ago
Math seems wrong "The team found that the loop design would convert 75% of the gas entering the system into useful resources, producing carbon nanotubes and hydrogen in a 3:1 mass ratio. In other words, for every 4 kilograms of methane the system successfully converts into useful resources, it makes 3 kilograms of nanotubes and 1 kilogram of hydrogen."
credit_guy•1h ago
The 75% and the 3:1 ratio are not related. Methane has the formula CH4, so for 12 grams of carbon you have 4 grams of hydrogen. If you successfully break down the molecule CH4 you get a carbon-hydrogen ratio of 3:1. Now, let's say you start with 5.33 kg of methane. Only 75% gets converted, so that's 4 kg. Of that, you get 3 kg of carbon and 1 kg of hydrogen.
westurner•1h ago
(I had to reread that paragraph a couple times too)

Are the max yield and the yield efficiency numbers mixed up?

cmrdporcupine•1h ago
When carbon byproducts are produced from these kinds of reactions, are they "pure" carbon, or will there be residues from the impurities in the methane?

The reason I ask is I wonder if the carbon could be used as a soil amendment to help replenish top soils in agriculture, or as a growing medium generally. But this would only be conceivable if it's just carbon.

estimator7292•49m ago
It extremely depends on the exact reactions. I'm not a chemist but AFAIK carbon nanotube production doesn't like taking in non-carbon atoms.

Things like crystallization reactions will produce very pure products, some other reactions will absorb more contaminants.

jaggs•1h ago
Oh come on. Produces 'clean energy' from natural gas? Yeah of course.
O5vYtytb•1h ago
Yes, did you read it? Hydrogen and solid carbon, so the result is no greenhouse gas emissions.
tfourb•48m ago
Wrong. First of all only 25% of the natural gas inserted into the reactor are converted (with the rest presumably resulting in emissions) and natural gas also produces emissions during exploration and exploitation
eulgro•1h ago
It's clean, but it's still non-renewable. Oil companies have to keep finding ways to greenwash themselves.
anovikov•1h ago
Not sure what's wrong here. They said clean, not renewable right?
estimator7292•50m ago
I'm a hardline no-fossi-fuels ever kind of guy and yes, this is clean energy.

If you collect the pollutants before emitting them and turn them into stable products, you aren't polluting.

Ergo, clean.

jaggs•28m ago
That sounds perfect. Except natural gas is a hydrocarbon, isn't it? Which means the processing is dirty at source? This idea of natural gas as a clean energy is rather the same as clean coal. In other words it's greenwashing.
bmacho•2m ago
[delayed]
westurner•1h ago
ScholarlyArticle: "Production of hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from methane using a multi-pass floating catalyst chemical vapour deposition reactor with process gas recycling" (2025) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-025-01925-3
wendgeabos•50m ago
almost certain to be uneconomical.
_aavaa_•18m ago
Calling H2 clean energy is dumb. We currently use millions of tonnes of H2 every year, almost all of that being significantly more carbon intensive. Until that stuff has been replaced, using new H2 for “energy” is wasteful, stupid, or predatory delay.

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