Researchers turn climate pollution into usable material

A study co-led by researchers at the University of Mississippi and Texas A&M University demonstrates a scalable, lower-cost method for manufacturing single-atom catalysts used in carbon dioxide (CO₂) conversion

Published in ACS Omega, the research addresses a major commercial bottleneck by demonstrating large-batch synthesis using climate pollution without sacrificing catalytic performance.

Overcoming the nanomaterial batch-size bottleneck

Capturing CO₂ emissions and electrochemically converting them into carbon monoxide (CO) provides a sustainable pathway to produce “syngas” (CO mixed with green H₂), a core chemical building block for synthetic fuels, plastics, and pharmaceuticals. However, commercial deployment has been constrained by catalyst synthesis scales.

Most advanced nanostructured electrocatalysts are produced in lab-scale batches of only 50 to 100 milligrams. At that rate, producing enough catalyst to cover a 10-square-meter industrial electrode array would take roughly a year. The research team overcame this barrier by engineering a single-step synthesis process:

• Mass-scale synthesis:

  • The team demonstrated single-batch production of 75 grams of nickel-and-iron single-atom catalyst (M-N-C structure), representing an approximate 750-fold increase over traditional laboratory yields.

• Rapid deployment:

  • At a 75-gram batch scale, sufficient catalyst for large-scale industrial installations can be produced in a matter of days rather than years.

• Electrochemical performance:

  • The scaled-up non-precious-metal catalyst maintained over 98% CO selectivity at commercially relevant current densities (500 mA cm ^-2), outperforming conventional silver-based (Ag) benchmark catalysts.

Climate pollution: Economic and environmental impact

The synthesis route utilises readily available multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and nitrogen precursors (melamine/urea). By replacing expensive silver nanoparticles with a nickel-and-iron single-atom architecture and streamlining batch processing, the technology significantly alters carbon recycling economics:

Cost reduction:

Projected carbon conversion costs drop to $145 per ton, roughly $255 below current market prices for CO₂ recycling.

Emissions offsets:

The streamlined process generates approximately 25% fewer process emissions compared to conventional silver-catalyst synthesis routes.

Modular industrial on-siting:

The modular nature of electrochemical stacks allows facilities to scale CO₂ conversion to their exact volume needs (e.g., localised ethylene or ethanol production) without constructing massive centralised plants.

Remaining hurdles and future research

While batch production and cost feasibility have been established, the authors note that long-term operational stability remains the final milestone before widespread industrial adoption.

Commercial chemical facilities typically operate continuously for ~350 days per year between maintenance turnarounds.

Future research will focus on extending the operational lifespan of the 75-gram batch catalysts under continuous 24/7 industrial operating conditions.