A two-dimensional alloy material made from five metals acts as an excellent catalyst for reducing CO2 into CO, research indicates.

The research, from the lab of Rohan Mishra, assistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering and materials science at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, appears in the journal Advanced Materials.

“We’re looking at transforming carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, into carbon monoxide,” Mishra says. “Carbon monoxide can be combined with hydrogen to make methanol. It could be a way to take CO2 from the air and recycle it back into a hydrocarbon.”

The basis of this innovation is a class of materials known as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs)—they include transition metals and a chalcogen, which includes sulfur, selenium, and tellurium. When an alloy contains more than three metals at near equal ratios, it’s said to be “high entropy.” Hence the wordy name of the material developed in Mishra’s lab: high-entropy transition metal dichalcogenides.

TMDCs are not new. There has been interest in similar two-dimensional forms of these materials due to their unique optical and electronic properties, Mishra says. But he had a suspicion they could be used for something else.

Read the full article about recycling CO2 with a TMDC alloy by Brandie Jefferson at Futurity.