Realizing Fast, Efficient, and Durable CO₂-to-CO Conversion Using an Inexpensive Pigment — Toward Reduction and Effective Utilization of Greenhouse Gases —

A research group from WPI-AIMR/Graduate School of Environmental Studies/International Synchrotron Radiation Innovation Smart Center (SRIS) at Tohoku University, RIES at Hokkaido University, and AZUL Energy Inc. has established a method for fabricating electrodes for CO₂ electrolysis. This is achieved by directly crystallizing cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc), a type of inexpensive pigment and metal complex, onto a gas diffusion electrode, simplifying the overall process. The team also developed a technique to convert CO₂ into CO&madash;an essential precursor for synthetic fuels&mdash under high-speed electrolysis conditions of over 1 A/cm² with more than 90% efficiency. Moreover, they demonstrated durability exceeding 140 hours.

The CO₂ electrolysis technology developed in this study enables a low-cost and highly efficient process for synthesizing CO, a key intermediate for synthetic fuels, using inexpensive pigment catalysts. This breakthrough is expected to contribute to solving challenges as a next-generation CO₂ Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology.