materialsscienceandengineering: Carbon dioxide captured from...

materialsscienceandengineering:

Carbon dioxide captured from air can be directly converted into methanol fuel

For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that CO₂ captured from the air can be directly converted into methanol (CH₃OH) using a homogeneous catalyst. The benefits are two-fold: The process removes harmful CO₂ from the atmosphere, and the methanol can be used as an alternative fuel to gasoline. The work represents an important step that could one day lead to a future “methanol economy,” in which fuel and energy storage are primarily based on methanol.

The study was led by G. K. Surya Prakash, a chemistry professor at the University of Southern California, along with the Nobel laureate George A. Olah, a distinguished professor at the University of Southern California. The researchers have published their paper on the CO₂-to-methanol conversion process in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

“Direct CO₂ capture and conversion to methanol using molecular hydrogen in the same pot was never achieved before. We have now done it!” Prakash told Phys.org.

Over the past several years, chemists have been investigating various ways of recycling CO₂ into useful products. For example, treating CO₂ with hydrogen gas (H₂) can produce methanol, methane (CH₄), or formic acid (HCOOH). Among these products, methanol is especially attractive because of its use as an alternative fuel, in fuel cells, and for hydrogen storage.

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