The project, conducted by SERC Chile researcher Jorge Yáñez, uses photochemical energy to purify and recycle the water used for the oxidation of red ore and its subsequent reduction to metallic copper.
The Solar Energy Research Center (SERC Chile), led by Jorge Yáñez, one of its principal investigators, is promoting the development of a production process for the first metallic copper produced entirely with solar energy. “Copper is an essential material for the transition to clean and non-conventional renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and tidal power, and Chile plays a key role in providing the materials and technology that enable this transition,” the researcher said.
Yáñez explained that every day, solar energy makes possible new and revolutionary advances in creating sustainable production processes that conserve and protect water resources and do not harm the environment—for example, by preventing greenhouse gas emissions and wastewater discharge.
The sun is an inexhaustible source of energy that we can convert into three types of energy: electrical energy, thermal energy, and chemical energy. Electrical energy is produced through photovoltaic panels, which are now widely used. Thermal energy is generated in solar thermal systems that harness the sun’s heat; and chemical energy is produced through semiconductor materials that, when exposed to light, trigger beneficial chemical reactions—what we call the sun’s photochemical energy. A good example of photochemical energy is photosynthesis, which some living organisms—such as plants and algae, among others—use to convert the sun’s energy into chemical energy to synthesize their structures and nutrients from water and atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Oxidation of Copper Ore Using Solar Energy
These types of energy are clean and help address climate change, which is primarily caused by the use of energy from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas: “That is why we have developed a method to harness the sun’s photochemical energy to trigger reactions that allow us to oxidize copper minerals and then reduce them to metallic copper, simply by exposing copper minerals in water to a recyclable photocatalyst.”
Yáñez also points out that, in order to use water and return it to the environment in a clean state while preventing health risks to people and animals, one of the most important solutions is solar water treatment, which promotes chemical reactions that clean and purify this vital element.
Regarding the process, Yáñez noted that “in northern Chile, there is a wonderful coincidence: high levels of solar radiation and an abundance of minerals such as copper, molybdenum, silver, and lithium. Copper is mostly mined using non-renewable energy sources such as fossil fuels. For this reason, through scientific research, we are promoting solar water treatment, which includes various technologies known as advanced oxidation processes, based on chemical reactions triggered by exposing water to sunlight. This radiation enables the disinfection and purification of wastewater—including industrial and domestic wastewater.”
In this way, the researcher at SERC Chile emphasizes the importance of advancing new processes that use sunlight as an energy source and innovating to contribute to the country’s sustainability goals and environmental protection.
