Water-conducting membrane allows carbon dioxide to transform into fuel more efficiently

Chemical engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have demonstrated how to make the conversion process from carbon dioxide to methanol more efficient by using a highly effective separation membrane they produced. The membrane contains small pores — known as water-conduction nanochannels — that can carefully and quickly let water go through them without losing gas molecules. This breakthrough, the researchers said, could improve a number of industry processes that depend on chemical reactions where water is a byproduct.