Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory use nanotechnology and catalytic processes to convert carbon dioxide to ethanol.
Scientists have discovered an electrochemical process in which tiny tips of carbon and copper can be used to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol.
The team used a catalyst composed of carbon, copper and nitrogen and triggered the chemical reaction voltage, which essentially reversed the combustion process.
The carbon dioxide dissolved in water becomes ethanol during the reaction, a 63% conversion efficiency achieved with this new breakthrough.
Adam Rondinone, ORNL's lead author and lead author of the study, said: 'We're consuming carbon dioxide, a waste generated by combustion and we are pushing this combustion reaction back into useful fuel with very high efficiency.
'Ethanol is a surprise - it is very difficult to convert directly from carbon dioxide to ethanol with a catalyst.'
Catalysts, nanoscale structures, including copper spikes embedded in copper nanoparticles, the team claimed to have succeeded in this project.
The team also said that by using this nanoscale structure, it is also possible to reduce the use of other expensive catalysts and rare metals such as platinum.
Rondinone said: 'By using ordinary materials, but using nanotechnology to arrange them, we considered how to limit the side effects and eventually get what we want.
According to the team, the economic viability of this process is likely to create some opportunities and scale up in industry that can be used to store surplus energy for solar and wind energy (for energy storage).
Rondinone added: 'A process like this can allow you to consume excess electricity when manufacturing and storing ethanol, which can help to balance the grid supplied by intermittent renewable energy sources.'
