Catalytic Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Fuels and Chemicals

Catalytic Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Fuels and Chemicals

This community develops catalysts and electrochemical methods to transform carbon dioxide into usable liquids and gases, such as methanol, formic acid, and hydrocarbons.

The work centers on electrochemical and catalytic reduction processes, with a heavy focus on converting CO2 into formic acid, methanol, and methane. Recurring materials include cobalt phthalocyanine, copper-based active sites, and metal-organic frameworks. Key reaction pathways involve CO2 hydrogenation, methanation, and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The research prioritizes achieving high efficiency and selectivity in these transformations, often by engineering specific active sites and interfacial environments to control reaction pathways.

The largest share of this community's output is found in carbon research, accounting for 3.9% of all carbon literature, and 1,695 papers here. Cobalt research also features prominently, with this group representing 3.7% of all cobalt research and 1,325 papers.

The community comprises 14,103 papers, publishing most frequently in ACS Catalysis, the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Fuel.

Recent work continues to focus on optimizing copper-based catalysts for selective production of ethylene and ethanol, as well as developing cobalt phthalocyanine systems for methanol synthesis in acidic media.

Papers behind this description

• Operando studies reveal active Cu nanograins for CO2 electroreduction — Nature, 2023 — doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05540-0
• Durable CO2 conversion in the proton-exchange membrane system — Nature, 2024 — doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06917-5
• Key intermediates and Cu active sites for CO2 electroreduction to ethylene and ethanol — Nature Energy, 2024 — doi:10.1038/s41560-024-01633-4
• Strain enhances the activity of molecular electrocatalysts via carbon nanotube supports — Nature Catalysis, 2023 — doi:10.1038/s41929-023-01005-3
• Multidimensional Engineering of Nanoconfined Catalysis: Frontiers in Carbon-Based Energy Conversion and Utilization — Catalysts, 2025 — doi:10.3390/catal15050477
• In Situ Infrared Spectroscopic Evidence of Enhanced Electrochemical CO 2 Reduction and C–C Coupling on Oxide-Derived Copper — Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2024 — doi:10.1021/jacs.3c08927
• Acid-humidified CO 2 gas input for stable electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction — Science, 2025 — doi:10.1126/science.adr3834
• An active, stable cubic molybdenum carbide catalyst for the high-temperature reverse water-gas shift reaction — Science, 2024 — doi:10.1126/science.adl1260
• Modulating electric field distribution by alkali cations for CO2 electroreduction in strongly acidic medium — Nature Catalysis, 2022 — doi:10.1038/s41929-022-00761-y
• Efficient multicarbon formation in acidic CO2 reduction via tandem electrocatalysis — Nature Nanotechnology, 2023 — doi:10.1038/s41565-023-01543-8
• The role of Cu1–O3 species in single-atom Cu/ZrO2 catalyst for CO2 hydrogenation — Nature Catalysis, 2022 — doi:10.1038/s41929-022-00840-0
• Improving CO 2 -to-C 2+ Product Electroreduction Efficiency via Atomic Lanthanide Dopant-Induced Tensile-Strained CuO x Catalysts — Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2023 — doi:10.1021/jacs.3c02428
• Electrochemical and photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons by a copper-based molecular catalyst — Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025 — doi:10.1016/j.cej.2025.168965
• Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction to formic acid over heterostructured copper–tin interfaces in a wide negative potential window — Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 2025 — doi:10.1016/j.jece.2025.118259
• Electrochemical potential-driven water dynamics control CO2 electroreduction at the Ag/H2O interface — Nature Communications, 2025 — doi:10.1038/s41467-025-65630-1
• Strain-optimized copper dual-atom sites for selective electroreduction of carbon dioxide to ethylene — Science Advances, 2025 — doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads0609
• Efficient CO2-to-methanol electrocatalysis in acidic media via microenvironment-tuned cobalt phthalocyanine — Nature Nanotechnology, 2025 — doi:10.1038/s41565-025-02059-z
• Carbonate anions and radicals induce interfacial water ordering in CO2 electroreduction on gold — Nature Chemistry, 2025 — doi:10.1038/s41557-025-01977-8