Inventors: Professor Erwin Reisner, Dr Sayan Kar, Ji Woo Park, Chemistry
Press release: Solar-powered device captures carbon dioxide from air to make sustainable fuel
For additional information : See the inventors’ Nature Energy paper, published February 2025
The Reisner group in the Department of Chemistry focuses on developing devices to convert waste, water and air into usable fuels and chemicals, using solar power. The goal is to contribute to the net-zero transition and help bring about a circular economy.
An analysis by the Royal Academy of Engineering predicts that by 2050 CO2 will be half of the world’s industrial carbon source, with the rest derived from biomass waste and circular plastics. This invention aims to be a key part of making that future happen.
The system takes CO2 directly from the air and uses solar power to convert it into syngas : a mixture of CO and H2 which is an industrial precursor to many chemicals and pharmaceutical products.
The process is inspired by photosynthesis, and works on a day-night cycle. During the night, solid absorbent materials in the flow reactor remove and store CO2 from the air. During the day, reflectors concentrate the sunlight onto the flow reactor – this releases the stored CO2 which then flows over molecularly-engineered photocatalysts to convert it directly into syngas.
The advantages of this process include:
- Capturing CO2 directly from the air, so that CO2 transportation and storage is not necessary
- External hydrogen is not needed, but is produced directly by the process
- The whole process takes place in the gas phase, which can be more efficient than solution-based processes
The challenge for the i-Team is to investigate the market for syngas and direct air capture, in order to recommend how the inventors should take this forward to real-world deployment. For example, where should such systems be built and operated, where would this fit into existing production systems and who are the most appropriate customers?
Reference:
Sayan Kar et al. ‘Direct air capture of CO2 for solar fuels production in flow.’ Nature Energy (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41560-025-01714-y