Oxide materials research for global environment and energy with a focus on CO2 fixation into polymers

Representing the gas, liquid, and solid phase materials on the earth under the standard conditions, CO2, H2O, and SiO2 attract my interest for their natural abundance, chemical stability, and yet fundamental roles in energy and environmental problems. Chemical consideration is made on the utilization of these stable resources for renewable clean energy materials and processes based on a thermodynamic approximation. A general scheme is presented to compare the utilization of CO2, H2O, and SiO2 for such purposes as CO2 fixation into functional polymers, photosynthesis of carbohydrates from CO2 and H2O, and solar silicon production from SiO2. Focused is CO2 copolymerization, since it is originated from our discovery of alternating CO2-epoxide (oxirane) copolymer in 1968 and it has been revived by the recent industrialization of this unique bio-degradable polymer in China. New ideas of using combinatorial chemical technology and soft plasma processing for fixing CO2 into polymers are proposed together with some preliminary experimental results.