Chinese scientists succeeded in making sugar from carbon dioxide

note

Monday, August 28, 2023

Chinese scientists have achieved precise macro-synthesis of sugar from carbon dioxide in the laboratory, which is a critical step in the artificial synthesis of sugar.

The extraction of sugar from crops such as sugarcane, has been affected by uncertain supplies of raw materials due to land degradation and scarcity, ecosystem degradation, extreme climate and natural disasters caused by global warming.

Sugar is an important source of energy for the human body.

Sugar is an important source of energy for the human body and the main raw material for industrial fermentation, and it is mainly obtained from sugar Extract it from crops such as sugar cane.

However, the traditional extraction method is limited by the energy conversion efficiency of plant photosynthesis. In addition, the sugar extraction process has been affected by uncertainties in the supply of raw materials due to land degradation and scarcity, ecosystem degradation, extreme weather and natural disasters caused by global warming.

The experiment took about 17 hours, which is much less than the time required for traditional sugar extraction methods.

As a result, the scientific community has seriously studied this phenomenon Synthetic sugar synthesis In recent years, scientists from around the world have contributed to this effort, reported China Daily.

At high concentrations of carbon dioxide, the other raw materials obtained, with the help of chemical catalysts and enzyme catalysts, four types of sugars: glucose, allulose, tagatose and mannose.

In their latest research, Chinese scientists adjusted the high concentrations of carbon dioxide and other raw materials in the reaction solution according to certain ratios. With the help of chemical and enzymatic catalysts, they obtained four types of sugars: glucose, allulose, tagatose and mannose.

The experiment took about 17 hours, which is much less than the time needed for traditional sugar extraction methods, according to Yang Jiangang, lead author of the paper and research associate at Tianjin Institute.

The efficiency of gluconeogenesis in this study was 0.67 grams per liter per hour. 10 times greater than previous results achieved by scientists around the world.

The conversion of carbon dioxide into sugar is one example of green chemistry, as it was done under normal conditions of temperature and pressure and did not produce any harmful substances.

Yang said the rate of conversion of carbon dioxide into sugar from glucose reached 59.8 nanomoles of carbon per milligram of catalyst per minute. This is the highest level of artificial sugar production known nationally and internationally.

The study, published in the Chinese Science Bulletin, also achieved precise control of synthetic sugar synthesis. “By controlling the different catalytic effects of different enzymes, almost any type of sugar could theoretically be synthesized,” Yang said.

The conversion of carbon dioxide into sugar is one example of green chemistry, as it was done under normal conditions of temperature and pressure and did not produce any harmful substances.