[freebeard]

Two new electrocatalysts.
phys.org: Nanoscale tin catalyst discovery paves way for sustainable CO₂ conversion

Tom Burwell, ...said, "We can assess the performance of the catalyst by measuring the electrical current consumed by the reacting CO2 molecules. Typically, catalysts degrade during use, resulting in decreased activity.

"Surprisingly, we observed the current flowing through tin on nanotextured carbon increased continuously over 48 hours. Analysis of the reaction products confirmed nearly all electrons were utilized to reduce CO2 to formate, boosting productivity by a factor of 3.6 while maintaining nearly 100% selectivity."

phys.org: Dual-site catalyst transforms CO₂ into renewable methanol

Zhenxing Feng and Alvin Chang of the OSU College of Engineering helped characterize a novel electrocatalyst developed by collaborators at Yale University and helped explain the improved efficiency for deriving methanol from carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that's largely responsible for global climate change.
...
The researchers' dual-site catalyst is the result of combining two different catalytic sites at adjacent locations, separated by about 2 nanometers, on carbon nanotubes and represents a significant improvement over previous single-site catalysts.

The new design increases the methanol production rate and results in a higher Faradaic efficiency of 50%, meaning less of the electricity used to catalyze the reaction is wasted. The previous single-site version operated at less than 30%.