New laser technique to help develop efficient and cleaner fuels

Scientists have developed a new laser technique that may help find sustainable ways to replace fossil fuels with more efficient clean energy.

Carbon dioxide is a hugely abundant waste product that can be converted into energy-rich by-products, such as carbon monoxide, said researchers at the University of Liverpool in the UK.

However, this process needs to be made far more efficient for it to work on a global, industrial scale, according to the study published in the journal Nature Catalysis.

Electrocatalysts have shown promise as a potential way to achieve this required efficiency ‘stepchange’ in CO2 reduction, but the mechanisms by which they operate are often unknown making it hard for researchers to design new ones in a rational manner.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with Beijing Computational Science Research Center in China, demonstrated a laser-based spectroscopy technique that can be used to study the electrochemical reduction of CO2 in-situ or original place and provide much-needed insights into these complex chemical pathways.

The researchers used a technique called Vibrational Sum-Frequency Generation (VSFG) spectroscopy coupled with electrochemical experiments to explore the chemistry of a particular catalyst called Mn(bpy)(CO)3Br, which is one of the most promising and intensely studied CO2 reduction electrocatalysts.