Innovative catalyst produces methane using electricity Innovative catalyst produces methane using electricity
Researchers at the University of Bonn and University of Montreal have developed a new type of catalyst and used it in their study to produce methane out of carbon dioxide and water in a highly efficient way using electricity. Methane can be used, for example, to heat apartments or as a starting material in the chemical industry. It is also the main component of natural gas. If it is produced using green electricity, however, it is largely climate neutral. The insights gained from the model system studied by the researchers can be transferred to large-scale technical catalysts. The system could also be used to produce other important chemical compounds. The study was recently published in the prestigious journal “Nature Chemistry.”
Many chemical reactions require energy to get started and this energy can be added by, for example, heating the reaction partners or subjecting them to high pressure. “We used electricity as the driving force instead,” explains Prof. Dr. Nikolay Kornienko. “By using climate friendly electricity, we can produce, for example, methane that doesn’t contribute to global warming.”
The researcher recently moved from the University of Montreal to the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Bonn. He started his latest study while still in Canada and concluded it in his new home. “The production of methane – which has the chemical formula CH4 – is challenging because it is necessary to carry out a reaction between a gas and a liquid,” says Kornienko.
