Plasmon-assisted catalytic COâ‚‚ conversion method offers sustainable e-fuel production
The conversion of CO2 into e-fuels by light offers a sustainable solution to close the carbon cycle. Researchers at the Laboratory for Nanometallurgy have pioneered an innovative approach to plasmon-assisted catalytic CO2 conversion using nanoscale disordered network metamaterials.
These truly-scalable advanced materials create a unique plasmonic environment, characterized by a high local density of optical states and an exceptional concentration of hotspots. This enables the efficient localization of light in ultra-small volumes, enhancing the catalytic process.
In their study, they successfully demonstrated the catalytic conversion of CO2 into carbon monoxide and methane—valuable chemical building blocks with potential applications in the production of e-fuels. The approach also offers the ability to fine-tune catalytic selectivity by adjusting the chemical composition of the plasmonic network, providing new opportunities to optimize and scale catalytic reactions across a variety of applications.
The research is now in Nano Letters.
More information: Jelena Wohlwend et al, CO2 Conversion in Cu–Pd Based Disordered Network Metamaterials with Ultrasmall Mode Volumes, Nano Letters (2025).
Journal information: Nano Letters
Provided by ETH Zurich