MIET scientists find a way to turn air into alcohol for fuel

Researchers from MIET have proposed a method to produce methanol as an alternative fuel from carbon dioxide using light and electricity. By employing materials that convert light energy into "chemical" energy, combined with the application of an electric field, the new approach works five times more efficiently than all existing methods. The results have been published in Current Applied Physics.

Due to rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, the Earth's "lungs" are no longer able to process it into oxygen, which causes planetary overheating and other adverse environmental consequences, according to research from MIET.

"Converting carbon dioxide into another substance requires processes similar to photosynthesis in plants. They need photocatalysts that convert light energy into chemical energy, which is necessary for breaking some bonds and forming others. To make the reactions as efficient as possible, the right balance of light, heat, water concentration, and atmospheric CO₂ is needed," explained Andrey Tarasov, one of the developers, a junior researcher at the Research Laboratory of Functional Materials and Surface Physics at MIET, and an assistant at the Institute of Advanced Materials and Technologies.

The university scientists have proposed a new approach to carbon dioxide conversion using titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanowires and silver (Ag) nanoparticles. By combining light and heat energy with an electric field, this material serves as a "catalyst track" for the reaction that converts CO₂ into methanol (CH₃OH), which is essential for the chemical industry and a potential alternative to petroleum‑based fuels.

"Just as a train won't run without rails, many chemical reactions won't proceed in a reasonable time without additional materials — catalysts. We took titanium dioxide, a classic material for accelerating photocatalytic reactions, but in the form of nanowires, and decorated it with silver nanoparticles. These particles act as relay stations for electrons, and the exchange of electrons between H₂O and CO₂ molecules leads to the synthesis of organic compounds," Tarasov explained.

"We have conducted laboratory tests of the new method for converting carbon dioxide into water vapour. Decorating titanium dioxide nanowires with silver nanoparticles increases the product yield by three times, and applying an additional electric field boosts methanol production efficiency by five times," the scientist added.

Looking ahead, the researchers plan to build a reactor that will convert water vapour and carbon dioxide into a useful product using only solar energy, which generates light, heat, and electricity, MIET reported.

The study involved scientists from MIET, Ulyanovsk State University, Sechenov University, and the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics.

The research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation.