Copper clusters convert carbon dioxide to useful products

The US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory has recently identified a new material that could speed up the process of converting carbon dioxide to energy-saving chemicals.

The methanol-focused study discovered the material they called copper tetramer, according to a release . This is made up of small clusters of four copper atoms each which are supported on a thin film of aluminum oxide. The copper tetramer binds carbon dioxide molecules and arranges them in a way that allows the conversion to quicken.

The copper tetramer has a structure with open binding sites to secure itself more strongly to carbon dioxide which in turn accelerates the conversion. The industrial process to reduce carbon dioxide to methanol uses a catalyst of zinc oxide, copper and aluminum oxide. Several of its binding sites are held in the compound together, limiting the number of carbon dioxide an atom can catch.

Stefan Vajda, senior chemist at Argonne National Laboratory and the Institute for Molecular Engineering, explained that the copper atoms are all exposed since only a few of them are bound.

“With our catalyst, there is no inside. All four copper atoms are participating because with only a few of them in the cluster, they are all exposed and able to bind,” said Vajda.

The current method of reduction creates high-pressure conditions to create stronger bonds with carbon dioxide molecules. This compensates for a catalyst with lesser binding sites. One of the benefits of the copper tetramer’s enhanced binding is its need for lower pressure and less energy to produce the same amount of methanol.

Researchers are still keen on searching for other catalysts that can outperform the copper tetramer, hoping to solve bigger problems such as global warming.

“We are interested in finding new catalytic reactions that will be more efficient than the current catalysts, especially in terms of saving energy,” said Larry Curtiss, one of the authors of the paper and a Distinguished Fellow of Argonne.

This newfound material could change the mood of the commodities sector when it comes to copper during a time when its prices are in a slump. Amur Minerals Corporation ( London AIM: AMC ) is a developing mine in the Russian Far East that is set to produce an estimate of 830,000 tons of nickel and copper for the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC).

Its Kun-Manie deposit is one of the world’s top 20 nickel-sulphide mines. The company is building its own smelters to process ore onsite. With the increasing rate of greenhouse gases, the world needs more copper tetramer that can efficiently convert carbon dioxide to methanol and similar chemicals, and mining companies such as Amur Minerals can help.

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