Postage stamp-sized artificial leaf converts CO2 into fuel using sunlight
The self-contained carbon-carbon producing system combines the catalytic power of copper with perovskite from solar panels.
Researchers have made an outstanding step towards sustainable energy solutions after they developed an artificial leaf capable of converting carbon dioxide into liquid fuels and other valuable chemicals using sunlight alone.
The team of experts from the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their international collaborators brought science one step closer to replicating the incredible productivity of natural photosynthesis, but with the added potential for industrial-scale application.
By harnessing copper’s catalytic power alongside perovskite – a calcium titanium oxide mineral widely used in solar panels – they developed a self-contained system that captures sunlight and converts carbon dioxide (CO₂) into carbon-carbon (C2) molecules.
These C2 molecules – a green, gaseous inorganic chemical also known as diatomic carbon – are essential building blocks for various industries, including fuel production and plastics.
Efficient carbon conversion
A part of the Liquid Sunlight Alliance (LiSA), a Department of Energy-funded initiative led by Caltech in close partnership with Berkeley Lab, the project draws on the expertise of over 100 scientists from institutions including SLAC, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and the University of Oregon. To further its mission, LiSA aims to advance technologies that turn sunlight, CO₂, and water into fuels.
“Nature was our inspiration,” said Peidong Yang, PhD, a senior faculty scientist in Berkeley Lab’s material sciences division and UC Berkeley professor of chemistry and materials science and engineering.
“We had to work on the individual components first, but when we brought everything together and realized that it was successful, it was a very exciting moment.”