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New photocatalyst turns greenhouse gas into clean energy under natural sunlight.

IIT Guwahati Develops Sunlight-Based Tech to Convert CO₂ into Methanol Fuel.

Researchers at IIT Guwahati have developed a novel photocatalytic material that can convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into methanol fuel using direct sunlight, offering a promising route for clean energy generation. The innovation, led by Professor Mahuya De of the Department of Chemical Engineering and research scholar Nayan Moni Baishya, has been published in the Journal of Materials Science. The technology aims to tackle two major challenges simultaneously—rising energy demand and carbon emissions—by transforming CO₂, a major greenhouse gas, into a useful fuel. Unlike many expensive and complex catalysts, the IIT Guwahati team used low-cost and easily available materials, combining graphitic carbon nitride with few-layer graphene to achieve efficient conversion. The researchers believe the technology could be applied in high-emission industries such as thermal power plants, cement factories, steel units and petrochemical refineries to convert CO₂ into methanol. However, the innovation is currently at the laboratory stage, and further research is needed to scale it up and develop a durable, industrial-grade photocatalytic system for real-world use.