Researchers led by Adelaide University and the Université de Montpellier have developed a technology that converts carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from industrial exhaust gases into a key fuel-making ingredient without requiring the gas to be purified first, a development the team says could improve the practicality of carbon capture and utilisation in manufacturing.
The findings, published in Nature Communications, describe a system that converts CO2 from industrial flue gas into carbon monoxide (CO), an important building block used in the production of fuels and chemicals.
According to Adelaide University, the approach addresses a longstanding challenge for carbon capture technologies, as industrial flue gas typically contains relatively low concentrations of CO2 mixed with nitrogen and oxygen, which can interfere with chemical conversion processes.
Most existing carbon capture methods require CO2 to be separated and purified before it can be used, adding cost and energy demands to the process.
Adelaide University Chemical Engineering Dean Professor Yan Jiao said the research team developed an organic solvent mixture that reduces unwanted chemical reactions while promoting CO2 conversion.
“Our work shows it is possible to use CO2 directly from industrial exhaust streams without extensive purification, making carbon utilisation much more practical and potentially more economical,” Prof Jiao said.
He said the technology could support emissions reduction efforts across heavy industries.
“This could help heavy industries such as steel, alumina refining, cement, chemicals, and energy production move toward cleaner and more circular production,” he said.
According to the researchers, testing with a simulated industrial flue gas containing 15 per cent CO2 and 8 per cent oxygen achieved almost 100 per cent conversion selectivity to carbon monoxide. The process consumed 30.7 gigajoules of energy per tonne of CO produced, which the researchers said places it among the more competitive direct carbon capture and conversion approaches reported to date.
The team also reported that the system operated continuously for more than 100 hours while maintaining high performance.
To assess its compatibility with renewable energy, the researchers integrated the technology with a high-efficiency solar cell. Adelaide University said the combined system achieved a solar-to-fuel efficiency of about 5.5 per cent, comparable with several systems that rely on purified CO2 feedstocks.
Dr Damien Voiry from the Université de Montpellier said the research demonstrated a potential pathway for converting industrial emissions into useful products while reducing reliance on energy-intensive carbon capture infrastructure.
“We found that controlling hydrogen-bond interactions is the key to suppressing unwanted reactions and enabling highly selective carbon dioxide conversion,” Dr Voiry said.
“This opens a new direction for carbon utilisation technologies and could help accelerate the transition towards sustainable fuel and chemical production powered by renewable energy.”
The study, titled Hydrogen Bond Network Disruption Enables Efficient Direct Reactive Capture of CO2 from Flue Gas, was published in Nature Communications.
The research involved scientists from the Université de Montpellier, Adelaide University, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, and Southwest Jiaotong University.
