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It is technically possible now to convert CO2 using copper catalysts, powered by renewable energy sources into valuable basic chemicals.

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Carbon dioxide (CO2) released from industrial processes, or from the air, could be captured and converted into useful hydrocarbons and other chemicals using solar or wind power. Reporting in the scientific journal Angewandte Chemie (International Edition), researchers at the Technical University of Darmstadt (TUD) and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg for Renewable Energy (HI ERN) have shared their techniques in electrochemical CO2 conversion.

The Department of Chemistry worked together with the Department of Materials and Earth Sciences at the TUD and their colleagues at HI ERN to decode the complex processes involved in the electrocatalytic conversion. They did so by applying an ionic liquid to the copper catalyst that acted as a chemical trap. This allowed intermediate states of the electrochemical reaction to be intercepted and certain steps to be slowed down or prevented completely.

Despite the breakthrough, there is still considerable development work to be done before the process can be harnessed for industrial use or to reduce greenhouse gases. The individual steps have yet to be defined. “A deeper insight into the reaction mechanisms is essential in order to steer the implementation of carbon dioxide towards the desired target products,” emphasises Prof. Bastian J. M. Etzold of the Department of Chemistry at the TUD in a press release.

Nonetheless, the report has shown that it is technically possible to convert CO2 using copper catalysts, powered by renewable energy sources. It also opens up possibilities for storage of excess renewable energy from wind and solar in the form of chemical energy.