Why can't we use a catalyst to break down Carbon Dioxide into Carbon and Oxygen?

Question

I could probably open one of my chemistry textbooks and find that it isn't energetically feasible or that the shape of the molecule wouldn't allow a catalyst to work. But I can't be bothered to do that because it's too late, so I'll let you nice people do it instead.

If it could be done it would be the solution to all our problems though so I guessing it can't be done.

Lol ok thanks guys. Can't believe I was so stupid. I was focussing so much on the way a catalyst reduces the activation energy I completely forgot about the fact that it can't lower the actual enthalpy change.

Shame, thought I was on the verge of saving the world, lol.

Answer 1

The formation of Carbon Dioxide is a very spontaneous reaction.
To reverse the process, energy must be supplied to the system.

A catalyst speeds up the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy needed for the reaction to proceed. A catalyst does not lower the over all change in free energy from the reaction however.

It is not energetically favorable for this reaction to occur naturally, thus, in order to make it occur, more energy must be spent than was gained to get the CO2 in the first place, thus probably generating more CO2 depending on how that energy was obtained.

Answer 2

I believe that it is possible, I heard of phenomenon of converting carbon from hydrocarbon or mixture of hydrocarbon and CO2.

The problem with solid catalyst (pellets) converting carbon is it would plugged the catalyst. In general terms, there shold be a way to separate carbon from the catalyst. even separating it from the carbon/oxygen stream is not very easy.

I might be possilbe but feasibility is a bigger problem.

Raising Enthalpy should not be a problem. In chemistry lab setup, it is hard to do. In real manufacturing world, there is such a thing called Heat exchangers.

Answer 3

The reaction is thermodynamically "uphill." Energy needs to be added to get carbon dioxide to be changed to carbon and oxygen. While catalysts can facilitate a reaction that is thermodynamically favorable (by changing the rate, for example, or by driving a reaction that normally requires a larger amount of energy to initiate), they are not capable of changing whether a reaction is thermodynamically favorable.

See reference 1.

Answer 4

CO2 is so stable that it requires an extremely large amount of energy to break it down and currently there is no such catalyst that will alllow us to use less energy.

Answer 5

Gold ain't cheap...
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-06/esrf-wgb062206.php

Answer 6

it is an endothermic reaction so it cannot be done.