Like many scientific discoveries, chemistry professor Andrew Maverick’s latest contribution to the field of chemistry happened by accident.
Maverick, along with research associate Frank Fronczek and post-doctoral researcher Uttam Pokharel discovered a method to turn carbon dioxide into oxalic acid, an organic compound found in fertilizers.
The team, however, did not envision this reaction as a possibility when they began their experiment.
“One of the things we’ve been doing in our lab for a long time is making molecules that have holes in the middle,” Maverick said. “We were interested in seeing if we could fit a certain molecule inside the holes and cause a reaction. For many years, my team has been working on testing different combinations, but we never got anything to react while it was in the hole, until we got the reaction with carbon dioxide.”
Maverick’s team started testing different compounds in 2010. Pokharel, who did most of the experiments, noticed the reaction in January 2013, Maverick said.
“[Pokharel] brought in a compound to the X-ray lab, not really sure what he had,” Fronczek said. “We found out what it was in the lab and, to our surprise, it was a compound with carbon dioxide.”
Maverick considers the team’s finding an accidental discovery because exposure to carbon dioxide in the environment caused the original reaction with a copper compound.
Once the team discovered carbon dioxide’s ability to react to the compound, they developed a three-step reaction sequence to make the gas substance into a more useful compound.
The team used sodium ascorbate — vitamin C — to make the copper compound and carbon dioxide transform into oxalate.
Because using solely vitamin C for this experiment would be an expensive method to produce a not-so-useful product, the team took it a step forward by using acid to convert the oxalate into oxalic acid.
Their research was published in Nature Communications in December 2014.
“This paper was published in a pretty high-ranking journal, so it was graded as a world-class study,” Maverick said. “It’s great to work in a place where you get to do high quality work, and that’s thanks to the support we get, not only from outside agencies, but from the state of Louisiana, which allows us to have research facilities at LSU and people like [Fronczek] here.”
Despite the magnitude discovery, Maverick considers these findings the first step toward the age old problem — too much carbon dioxide in the environment.
“The reaction takes four to five days to work, so we can’t just go out and say we solved the carbon dioxide problem,” Maverick said. “The next step is to figure out how to speed up the process.”
Maverick will also work on ways to convert the oxalic acid into more useful substances like vinegar or ethanol.
“If you believe these things, it’s important to remove carbon dioxide from the air. One could argue that’s a good thing. To be able to make something organic out of it, something that can be used to make other reactions may be important,” Fronczek said.
For environmental management systems senior Brittany Dupre, research like Maverick’s is beneficial because it looks to help the environment.
While scientists come up with a way to speed up the reaction, Dupre thinks educating others on the effects of carbon dioxide is the best way to contribute.
Maverick is applying for grants to continue his research on these compounds and encourages students to get involved with research opportunities.
“In the world of chemistry, and any other science for that matter, it’s not just so that you learn all the cool chemistry stuff that’s already out there,” Maverick said. “Employers are going to want someone who can apply what they’ve learned to solve new problems. You need to be able to not just understand the material but also be able to apply it to make new discoveries.”