Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello,
I was thinking that to help with global warming we might be able to start taking carbon dioxide out of the soil we use for farming. I had an idea where I could take some soil samples from my back yard, divided them into two groups, potentially take the carbon dioxide out of one group and then plant plants in both soil sample groups and see what happens. I believe that since carbon dioxide actually inhibits growth of plants, the plants should grow faster in the soil where at least most of the carbon dioxide has been taken out. I plan on taking out the carbon dioxide by the way of creating a metal catalyst and making the carbon dioxide turn into a solid after being zapped with electricity. This is the website where I got the information for planning on the removal of carbon dioxide by turning it into a solidhttps://www.designnews.com/batteryenerg ... carbon[url][/url]. I was wondering what your thoughts on this idea were, especially to see if you think this would be a feasible idea that I could pull off without spending too much money. My one concern is that the German and Australian researches used pure carbon that was bubbled in, where I am using actual soil, however, I still think that it should work. My other potential problem would be obtaining the metal alloy and where I might even be able to obtain it from. Thank you for taking the time to read over this and respond, thoughts are always very appreciated.
-Michael

Hello,

This is a really creative project idea! I downloaded the original research paper where the scientists published the details of their experiments so we can see the exact procedure and materials that they used. Here's the link so you can read it too:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08824-8#Sec8

If you click on the "Methods" tab, it brings you to the section that talks about how they made the metal alloy. They purchased the metals from a company called Roto Metals Inc. It looks like anyone can purchase the metals from this website and they're not overly expensive, so that could be feasible. My bigger concern is the cerium that you'd have to add to the metal. That alone would cost several hundred dollars. You also have to add the cerium to the galinstan inside a nitrogen glove box. Unless your school has one, you would probably have to look for a professional lab that has one you could use.

Preparing the electrodes also appears to be pretty expensive. I looked up the exact conductive carbon fibers that they used, and it says they cost almost $700.

If you happen to live near a university, you could contact some professors there and pitch your ideas to them to see if they'd be willing to mentor you and sponsor your project. Many scientists are more than happy to work with enthusiastic high school students. I don't think this exact project would be feasible for you to do by yourself just because of the expensive materials and complex machinery that are required. But have a look at the research paper and see what you think.