Scientists have developed an artificial leaf that uses sunlight to convert CO₂ into hydrocarbons, offering a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
Tiny copper ‘nano-flowers’ have been attached to an artificial leaf to generate clean fuels and essential chemicals that form the backbone of modern energy and manufacturing.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a practical method to produce hydrocarbons—molecules composed of carbon and hydrogen—using only sunlight.
Their device integrates a light-absorbing ‘leaf’ made from perovskite, a high-efficiency solar cell material, with a copper nanoflower catalyst to convert carbon dioxide into valuable molecules. Unlike most metal catalysts, which can only transform CO₂ into single-carbon molecules, the copper flowers facilitate the production of more complex hydrocarbons with two carbon atoms, such as ethane and ethylene—key building blocks for liquid fuels, chemicals, and plastics.
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