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Story summary
- Yale researchers built a solar-powered device that converts carbon dioxide and water into methanol using only sunlight.
- The system merges a cobalt-phthalocyanine catalyst on carbon nanotubes with a silicon-pillar photoelectrode coated in fullerene carbon.
- Doctoral researcher Bo Shang created the photoelectrode, improving charge separation, electron transfer and surface area.
- The team says the device is among the most efficient silicon-based methanol converters and could aid carbon-recycling and renewable fuel production.
