Tiny copper ‘nano-flowers’ attached to an artificial leaf can produce clean fuels and chemicals without any additional carbon emissions. Combining a light absorbing ‘leaf’ made from a high-efficiency solar cell material called perovskite, with a copper nanoflower catalyst, CO2 is converted into useful molecules. Unlike most metal catalysts, which can only convert CO₂ into single-carbon molecules, the copper flowers enable formation of more complex hydrocarbons with two carbon atoms, such as ethane and ethylene—key building blocks for liquid fuels, chemicals, and plastics.
www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/tiny-copper-flowers-bloom-on-artificial-leaves-for-clean-fuel-production