Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn CO2 into the fuel.
In particular, the team used a catalyst made of carbon, copper and nitrogen and applied voltage to trigger a complicated chemical reaction that essentially reverses the combustion process. With the help of this catalyst, the solution of carbon dioxide dissolved in water and turned into ethanol. Typically, this type of electrochemical reaction results in a mix of several different products in small amounts.
“We discovered somewhat by accident that this material worked,”said ORNL’s Adam Rondinone, lead author of the team’s study published in ChemistrySelect. “We were trying to study the first step of a proposed reaction when we realised that the catalyst was doing the entire reaction on its own.”
Source: www.wired.co.uk