The Chinese have made material for the efficient conversion of carbon dioxide into fuel

Material scientists from the Hefei State Physical Laboratory (China) have proposed a new material that can convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuel. The process of electroreduction, which requires a relatively small expenditure of energy, takes place due to the unique composition of the material, consisting of layers of cobalt and cobalt oxide. A material with a thickness of just four atoms converts a greenhouse gas to formates (formic acid esters).

As explained by Karthish Manthiram [Karthish Manthiram], a chemist from the California Institute of Technology, has long been working on the problem of electroreduction of CO ₂The material created by Chinese scientists can really make a breakthrough in science. For many years, scientists have been struggling with the problem of utilizing excess carbon dioxide, which threatens our planet with a greenhouse effect, but so far it has not been possible to find materials that are well suited for this task.

A material suitable for the indicated conversion should, firstly, ensure a stable gas conversion rate, secondly, this speed should be high enough for practical use, and thirdly, the process should not consume too much energy. In the end, a partial excess of CO _{2 is} generated just due to the generation of electricity, so spending too much energy on its disposal would be counterproductive.

When a pulsed current is passed through it, the new material begins to interact with the molecules of the carbon dioxide passing through it - the hydrogen atom joins the carbon atom in the carbon dioxide, and after the addition of another electron to the oxygen atom, CO ₂ turns into CHOO− formate.

Applying a current of 10 mA per square centimeter of material at a voltage of 0.24 V, the scientists received a stable stream of formates with 90% selectivity. According to Mantiram, this is the best indicator of all that is available today. According to him, even 10 years ago such indicators were considered fundamentally unattainable. And although years must pass before the moment when this achievement will be embodied in commercial devices, scientists are very optimistic.