Perovskites boost a technique that splits CO2

Researchers from North Carolina State University have used perovskites to significantly boost the efficiency of a technique that splits carbon dioxide (CO₂) to create carbon monoxide (CO). The CO₂-splitting process reportedly converts more than 98% of the CO₂ into CO. In addition, the process also uses the resulting oxygen to convert methane into syngas, which is itself a feedstock used to make fuels and other products.

For the CO₂-splitting process, researchers developed a nanocomposite of strontium ferrite dispersed in a chemically inert matrix of calcium oxide or manganese oxide. As CO₂ is run over a packed bed of particles composed of the nanocomposite, the nanocomposite material splits the CO₂ and captures one of the oxygen atoms. This reduces the CO₂, leaving only CO which is valuable because it can be used to make a variety of chemical products, including everything from polymers to acetic acid.

"Previous CO₂ conversion techniques have not been very efficient, converting well below 90% of the CO₂ into CO," the team says. "We reached conversion rates as high as 99%".