Scientists turn over new leaf

Scientists have taken a leaf from nature’s book in an effort to make clean gas found in fuels, pharmaceuticals and plastics.

An artificial leaf has been developed at Cambridge University that mimics photosynthesis, the process plants use to gather energy from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water.

At present, a gas known as syngas is produced from fossil fuels, but the carbon-neutral solution could eventually be used to develop a sustainable liquid fuel alternative to petrol.

“You may not have heard of syngas, but every day, you consume products that were created using it,” explained Professor Erwin Reisner.

“To produce it sustainably would be a critical step in closing the global carbon cycle and establishing a sustainable chemical and fuel industry.”

The process uses two light absorbers, similar to the plant molecules that harvest sunlight, combined with a catalyst made from cobalt. In water, one uses the catalyst to produce oxygen, while the other carries out the chemical reaction that reduces carbon dioxide and water into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, forming the syngas.

The leaf works as well on cloudy and overcast days.

“You are not limited to using it in warm countries, or only during summer,” said Virgil Andrei, a PhD student and first author of the paper, published in the Nature Materials journal. “You could use it from dawn ’til dusk, anywhere in the world.”