Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory have developed a system that can simultaneously capture and convert CO₂. The approach, they reported in Nature Energy, offers a more efficient and potentially lower-cost approach than carrying out each step separately.  

By swapping the water usually used in carbon capture and conversion systems for a different solvent, the team was able to capture CO₂ more efficiently and convert it into carbon monoxide, an industrially relevant building block for the chemical industry used to make a wide range of fuels and chemicals today. They also turned to zinc, rather than the usual silver, to catalyze the conversion reaction, bringing costs for the process down further. 

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