Making fuels from captured CO2 could transform aviation, shipping, and trucking— industries that are particularly tough to decarbonize, as their large fuel-dependent engines do not lend themselves to electric alternatives. A way around the problem could be to make those fuels carbon-neutral by capturing CO2 and using light energy to transform it into fuel precursors like methanol. With this grant, researchers will explore a composite catalyst that links a photoabsorbent semiconductor layer to an oxide layer. The semiconductor uses light to excite electrons, which then migrate via the oxide layer to the catalytic surface where they react with and reduce CO2 molecules.
Participants
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Eric I. Altman
Roberto C. Goizueta Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering
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Charles Ahn
John C. Malone Professor of Applied Physics & Materials Science
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Nilay Hazari
Chair and John Randolph Huffman Professor of Chemistry
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Sohrab Ismail-Beigi
Strathcona Professor of Applied Physics & Materials Science
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Frederick Walker
Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP)
