New Paper in Nature Communications

Methanol, a liquid fuel alternative to petrol, could now be sustainably produced via a carbon-neutral pathway using only sunlight, greenhouse gas CO₂ and water with unity selectivity!

Using our exquisitely designed carbon-dots/carbon-nitride (CD/CN) junction, we can stably convert water and CO₂ to stoichiometric O₂ and methanol with nearly 100% selectivity under sunlight. The unique hole-accepting nature of the novel CD and its selective adsorption of water favour the oxidation of water over methanol and enhance the selectivity of CO₂ reduction to alcohols. 

This strategy selectively reduces greenhouse gas by water to high-value chemicals, hence offering sustainable liquid fuels and closing the global carbon cycle. 

For more details on this study, please check out our recent article “Unique hole-accepting carbon-dots promoting selective carbon dioxide reduction 100% to methanol by pure water” on Nature Communications.