A stable copper catalyst for CO2 conversion

In Germany, researchers at RUB and the University of Duisburg-Essen developed a new catalyst for converting carbon dioxide into chemicals or fuels. They optimized already available copper catalysts in order to improve their selectivity and long-term stability. The greenhouse gas CO2 can be converted into larger carbon compounds that can be used as basic chemicals for industry or as fuels.

Copper has already proven to be a promising catalyst in previous studies, but it must be in the form of a partially positively charged ion – and that is exactly the problem.

The team from Bochum and Duisburg-Essen therefore modified a copper catalyst with boron. The researchers tested various copper-boron ratios and determined the optimal composition in order to promote the formation of compounds with more than two carbon atoms. They also showed that the boron-copper catalyst can be operated at current densities that would be required on an industrial scale.