Diamond is not only a unique gemstone, but can also provide a valuable contribution to sustainable energy conversion and storage. This is brought about by its ability to provide a man-made alternative to photosynthesis allowing an energy-efficient conversion of the greenhouse gas CO2 to fuels or fine chemicals on its surface upon irradiation. Our team is striving for conversion reactors, which can effectively convert CO2, e.g., in exhaust gases, to more valuable products using solar light.

About the Innovator

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Fraunhofer is Europe’s largest organisation for applied research. Our research efforts are geared entirely to people’s needs: health, security, communication, energy and the environment.

The research activities at Fraunhofer IAF include millimetre-wave circuits for radar sensors and communication links, robust gallium nitride voltage converters for efficient use of regenerative energies, infrared and UV detectors, semiconductor lasers for e.g., the detection of hazardous substances, micro-sensors for gas and fluid analysis, and innovative diamond technologies and devices.

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What is the innovation

Diamond has certain inherent physical properties making it attractive to researchers worldwide. We are harnessing the ability to convert the greenhouse gas CO2 to more valuable compounds like fuels or fine chemicals upon irradiation comparable to photosynthesis. This is the process with which nature reintroduces CO2 into the biochemical cycle using generally the same ingredients. Currently, prototype reactors are manufactured, which can readily convert CO2 providing a valuable contribution to a sustainable energy management in future.

Out of the lab – Into the Market

The technological development is guided by the ideas of robustness and high scalability. Using our key competence in diamond synthesis, we have a strong focus on the fabrication of highly efficient diamond materials for the photoconversion of CO2 on a wafer scale level up to 6”. However, device integration and packaging also play a major role especially for showing the potential applications of this technology.

Benefits of participation in the Framework Programme

Due to the close collaboration with experts from different scientific disciplines and the efficient organisation within the EU-funded FET Open project DIACAT, new insights into the fundamentals of the technology and potential optimizations concerning all parts of the reactor have been worked out. Some of these improvements are concerning nano-sized and nano-structured materials, the determination of the best reaction medium for high CO2 uptake and the conversion efficiency using solar light.