Researchers successfully converted CO ₂  to methanol by shining sunlight on individual copper atoms deposited on a light-activated material, a discovery that paves the way for the creation of new green fuels.

An international team of researchers from the University of Nottingham's School of Chemistry, the University of Birmingham, the University of Queensland and the University of Ulm designed a material made of copper anchored on nanocrystalline carbon nitride. Copper atoms are embedded in a nanocrystalline structure that allows electrons to pass from carbon nitride to CO ₂ , which is a necessary step in the production of methanol from CO ₂  under the influence of sunlight. The research was published in the journal Sustainable Energy & Fuels  Journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry. (UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, more at eurekalert.org)