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Along with capturing that light to heat conversion, they were also able to extract “hot electrons”.
“When catalysts are excited by visible light, they produce hot electrons – which also help to drive the reaction,” Lovell said.
The end product is not too dissimilar to natural gas, and can be used in any application that natural gas is currently used, including domestic cooking and industrial purposes.
“By employing specific catalysts and support materials, we have demonstrated a new pathway for visible light to drive the conversion of CO₂ into methane,” she said. “This adds value to the captured CO₂ by creating a valuable chemical product.”
Wide-ranging benefits
Transforming waste CO₂ into synthetic fuel creates a closed-loop system that both reduces the dependency on fossil fuel extraction and reducing emissions, according to co-author Yi Fen (Charlotte) Zhu.
Offsetting power consumption also ensures affordable energy generation.
“Being able to directly use sunlight reduces the costs required for energy generation to facilitate the reaction,” Zhu told create. “This alleviates one of the major challenges in the pursuit and application of CO₂ derived fuel, which is contingent on the availability of low-cost, low carbon energy inputs.”
Because the reaction uses CO₂ and hydrogen, the benefits extend further. With homes also set up to run on natural gas, this process can help to ease the transition to renewable sources in a carbon neutral manner.
“At the moment there is a big push towards the hydrogen economy,” Lovell said. “If we can convert that hydrogen into methane, we can use it within our already established infrastructure.”