Blue Pigment Catalyst Turns CO₂ Directly Into Methane

A common blue pigment could help convert captured carbon dioxide into a usable fuel, according to researchers at Tohoku University, Hokkaido University and startup AZUL Energy. Turning the most potent greenhouse gas into fuel that we can use could be a monumental step in the fight to mitigate climate change.

The process involves a catalyst that can turn CO₂ directly into methane in a single electrochemical step, and the molecule to thank is copper phthalocyanine - a bright blue synthetic pigment. The finding was published in the journal Small on 2 August 2026.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction uses renewable electricity to convert CO₂ into fuels and chemicals, a dually beneficial route that recycles carbon while reducing reliance on fossil fuels. The challenge is selectivity. Conventional copper nanoparticle catalysts tend to produce a mixture of products, which then need to be separated and purified – a complex and energy demanding procedure.

The new catalyst, applied to a gas diffusion electrode, reached a maximum Faradaic efficiency of 79.5 per cent for methane. This is the percentage of electrical charge passed through the system that actually goes into creating the desired product, in this case methane.

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