Carbon dioxide reactions at the surface of silicon dust

When silicon wafers are produced industrially, a large amount of waste (that we call silicon dust) is produced when the large silicon single crystals are sliced into thin wafers. Silicon dust may have some functionality, because it was originally part of the ingot (single crystal) generated by the Czochralski method and had the potential to become part of a silicon wafer. Silicon dust is now being disposed, in spite of its potential functionality. We are analyzing how carbon dioxide can adsorb and react at the surface of such materials. The figure below depicts the transition state of the adsorption reaction of carbon dioxide over a cluster of silicon atoms (which is a proxy for a Si(100) plane, assumed to be present on the surface of a particle of silicon dust). The adsorbed carbon dioxide molecule can react further with other molecules that approach the surface from the gas phase.

Related reports, papers, presentations:

• 幸田 怜，山口 勉功，国吉 ニルソン，酸化された Si 表面における CO₂ を原料とした HCOOH 生成の反応動力学解析，日本化学会第103春季大会，野田市(千葉県)），2023年3月．

• 井上岳紀，国吉ニルソン，山口勉功 (2021). DFT計算によるSi結晶表面上のCO2水素化反応機構の解析．日本化学会第101回春季大会，東京，2021年3月．

• Nílson Kunioshi and Akio Fuwa, “Silicon surfaces as substrates for carbon dioxide reactions with hydrogen,” The 13th International Conference on Advanced Namomaterials, ACM2018, Aveiro, Portugal, July 2018.

• Nílson Kunioshi, “Evidence for reactions of carbon dioxide over silicon surfaces,” The 6th Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials, PCM2018, Kitakyushu, April 2018.