Copper nanoflowers power clean fuel production

Cambridge and Berkeley researchers have attached copper nanoflower electrocatalysts to an artificial leaf to produce clean fuels and chemicals that are useful to a range of industries.

Copper ‘nano-flowers’ have been attached to an artificial leaf to produce clean fuels and chemicals that are the backbone of modern energy and manufacturing
Copper ‘nano-flowers’ have been attached to an artificial leaf to produce clean fuels and chemicals that are the backbone of modern energy and manufacturing - Virgil Andrei

The device from researchers at Cambridge University and the University of California, Berkeley combines a light-absorbing ‘leaf’ made from perovskite with a copper nanoflower catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into useful molecules.

Unlike most metal catalysts, which convert CO₂ into single-carbon molecules, the copper flowers enable the formation of more complex hydrocarbons with two carbon atoms, such as ethane and ethylene, which are key building blocks for liquid fuels, chemicals and plastics.

Almost all hydrocarbons currently stem from fossil fuels, but the method developed by the Cambridge-Berkeley team results in clean chemicals and fuels made from CO2, water and glycerol – a common organic compound – without any additional carbon emissions. Their results are detailed in Nature Catalysis.

The study builds on the team’s earlier work on artificial leaves, which took inspiration from photosynthesis. 

“We wanted to go beyond basic carbon dioxide reduction and produce more complex hydrocarbons, but that requires significantly more energy,” said lead author Dr Virgil Andrei from Cambridge’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.

By coupling a perovskite light absorber with the copper nanoflower catalyst, the team was able to produce more complex hydrocarbons. To further improve efficiency and overcome the energy limits of splitting water, the team added silicon nanowire electrodes that can oxidise glycerol. According to Cambridge University, this new platform produces hydrocarbons 200 times better than earlier systems for splitting water and carbon dioxide.

The reaction boosts CO2 reduction performance but also produces high-value chemicals such as glycerate, lactate, and formate, which have applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and chemical synthesis.

“Glycerol is typically considered waste, but here it plays a crucial role in improving the reaction rate,” said Andrei. “This demonstrates we can apply our platform to a wide range of chemical processes beyond just waste conversion. By carefully designing the catalyst’s surface area, we can influence what products we generate, making the process more selective.”

While current CO2-to-hydrocarbon selectivity remains around 10 per cent, the researchers are optimistic about improving catalyst design to increase efficiency. The team envisions applying their platform to more complex organic reactions. It is claimed that with continued improvements, the research could accelerate the transition to a circular, carbon-neutral economy.

“This project is an excellent example of how global research partnerships can lead to impactful scientific advancements,” said Andrei. “By combining expertise from Cambridge and Berkeley, we’ve developed a system that may reshape the way we produce fuels and valuable chemicals sustainably.”

The research was supported in part by the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, St John’s College, the US Department of Energy, the European Research Council, and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).