# Silver catalyst study cuts electricity use in carbon dioxide conversion

_Published Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 9:06 PM EDT · Science, Infrastructure · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![Silver catalyst study cuts electricity use in carbon dioxide conversion — Primary](https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/hires/2026/nanosilver-as-an-elect-1.jpg)

Researchers led by HZB chemist Prashanth Menezes reported that loosely distributed, 10-nanometer silver particles improved the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide, a raw material for fuels and chemicals. The best-performing catalyst layer used 0.2 mg of particles per square centimeter of electrode.

Replacing oxygen production at the other electrode with an aldehyde reaction reduced the cell's energy consumption by more than 30% and produced hydrogen and carboxylic acids, including formic acid. The optimized silver catalyst maintained almost 100% Faradaic efficiency for carbon monoxide over 100 hours.

## Sources

- [Phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2026-09-sparse-layers-nanometer-silver-particles.html)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/KoM7XyUvVFAApBc28XPxyz
Published: 2026-09-27T01:06:36.857Z
Story chronology: 2026-09-26T17:00:01.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-09-27T02:56:35.067Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)