Las Pias City National Science High School

Carnival Park Street, BFRV, Talon II, Las Pinas City

Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide in Car Exhausts using Copper Nanoparticles and

Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

Ambrosio, Lorenzo Aivin F. (Team Leader)

Carpena, Evander Jethro D. (Member)

Sta. Rita, Isabelle Rose A. (Member)

July 5, 2017 December 22, 2017

 A. Rationale

Cars and several more vehicles are very useful to us, humans. It has been used for different

purposes such as transportation, and import and export of items and itineraries. But then, the only

flaw of these automated machineries is that theyre highly dangerous emissions that are

harmful not only to us, humans, but also to the environment as a whole. These car emissions (or

exhaust gases) are made up of the remains of nitrogen, water vapor, and carbon dioxide coming

from the car. This is due to the fact that in the car, there is a combustion of fuels such as

gasoline, petrol, biodiesel blends, fuel, or coal, and because of that, the car or vehicle releases the

said gases from above.

Our research will tackle the procedure on how we can lessen, or better yet, completely remove

the carbon dioxide in these emissions by using copper nanoparticles and mesoporous silica

nanoparticles.
 B. Hypothesis

Our hypothesis is that the sequestration of the Carbon Dioxide molecules will be successful and

in time, will be a viable solution of lessening the air pollution.

 C.1 Procedures

C.1.1 Chemicals

Firstly, we will gather all of the chemicals needed. Copper Sulfate with be made out of

concentrated sulfuric acid, pure copper wires and a 6Volt Battery. Cetyltrimethyl

ammonium bromide (CTAB), Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), ammonia and ethylene

glycol will be for the synthesis of the rod-shaped and spherical mesoporous silica

nanoparticles. MPSS and MPSR, Toulene, Ethylenediamene N-Propylethylenediamine,

will all be used in the synthesis of CuNP-PEDA-MPSS/MPSR.

C.1.2 Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles

We will synthesize it by using locally available materials that may be found at your home

or a hardware shop. 5ml of concentrated sulfuric acid will be mixed with only 30ml of

water for it not to be a dilute solution. Then, the copper wire will be set onto the solution.

A 9 volt battery will be used to complete the circuit and create Copper sulfate dissolved

in sulfuric acid. We will boil the solution until we get the crystallines from it.

C.1.3 Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

We will prepare the spherical variant first by dissolving the CTAB into deionized water

and stirring it until a clear solution can be seen. A few drops of ammonia will be added to

the solution and even fewer drops of TEOS to it. The mixture will be stirred for about 12

hours while keeping the pH level to an alkaline 10.2 by adding a few more ammonia

drops. We, then, will put the mixture in static condensation for 20 hours at 100 C to be

able to form the solids, which will be the silica nanoparticles. The final step will be to
calcinate the solid in 500C for 6 hours. As for the rod-shaped variant, ethylene glycol

will be used as well as an additive after making another CTAB-water solution. Well add

TEOS onto the solution and stir it for about 12 hours again and put it in a static condenser

for about 20 hours, but this time, in ambient temperature. Finally, it will be centrifuged,

rinsed and calcified at 550C.

C.1.4 Synthesis of Spherical Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles Copper Nanoparticles -

N-Propylethylenediamine (MSPS-CuNP-PEDA) and its Rod-Shaped Variant

MPSS or MPSR will be dispersed into dry toulene in a flask. The mix will be heated to

90C whilst being stirred. After the stirring is done, we will add tiny amounts of PEDA

while in a nitrogen atmosphere for 6 hours. The PEDA-MPS will be centrifuged to obtain

the solid form and will be rinsed with toluene and dried overnight in a vacuum. The

mesoporous silica with EDA linker will be modified by adding MPSS to EDA dissolved

in ethanol in a reaction vessel. It will be sonicated for 15 minutes and will be shaken for

12 hours. We will centrifuge it once more, wash it with ethanol, and dry it again in a

vaccum at 100C. Copper ions will be loaded into the PEDA-MPS by putting in copper

sulfate in it. We will wash it with deionized water to be able to remove any excess metal

ions.

C.1.5 Smoke Emission Testing and Analysis

We will use a 1999 Toyota Revo 1.8 We will test the emission in LTO Las Pinas Branch,

where we will test out the efficiency of the bare Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles, the

PEDA-MPSS and PEDA-MPSR and CuNP-PEDA-MPSS and CuNP-PEDA-MPSR.

 C.2 Risks and Safety

The Hazardous Chemicals, Activities or Devices Rules in the Intel ISEF Rules will be strictly

followed. This includes the forms needed in order to fulfill the rules and the usage of approved

chemicals for the research.

 C.3 Data Analysis

We will be using the one-way ANOVA because it compares the means of two or more related

groups. We will be able to determine if there is a significant decrease of carbon dioxide from the

collected result from the smoke emission test.

 D. Bibliography

1. Khdary, N. H., Ghanem, M. A., Abdesalam, M. E., & Al-Garadah, M. M. (2016, May 24).

Sequestration of CO2 using Cu nanoparticles supported on spherical and rod-shape mesoporous

silica. Retrieved July 20, 2017, from

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1319610316300370

2. Sarne, V. B. (2015, May 26). Ever wonder why no one is taking emission tests in PH

seriously? Wonder no more. Retrieved July 20, 2017, from

http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/motoring-news/ever-wonder-why-no-one-is-taking-emission-

tests-in-ph-seriously-wonder-no-more

3. Coupling Agents. (n.d.). Retrieved July 20, 2017, from

https://www.gelest.com/applications/coupling-agents/

4. Superalis, J. C., Catiis, K. S., & Marquez, J. V. (n.d.). Adsorptive Potential of Activated

Charcoal Infused with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) on Particulate Matter from Jeepney

Exhaust.