The goal of our research is to develop unique methods for converting carbon dioxide into high‑value chemical compounds. This will be accomplished by merging strong nanoscience and chemistry competences in surface chemistry, electrochemistry, and the “wonder material” graphene. Our research is currently housed under the new Danish National Research Center, Carbon Dioxide Activation (CADIAC).

It is now generally accepted that high atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ from the burning of fossil fuels pose threatening changes to our climate. We want to contribute to solving this pertinent problem by developing nanotechnological methods that make it possible to use CO₂ as a valuable resource for the synthesis of fuels and platform chemicals. The innovative aspect of our work consists of deliberately arranging both CO₂, captured from the atmosphere, and electrocatalysts in optimal three-dimensional graphene‑derived structures to achieve a hitherto unseen activation of CO₂. In this manner materials that display outstanding catalytic activity and selectivity at the same time may be generated.

In addition to the synthesis of novel functionalized materials, we use numerous characterization techniques in our daily work, including XPS, ToF-SIMS, Raman, PM-IRRAS, and AFM.

Many of our projects have an applied focus and involve collaboration with industry partners such as Grundfos, SP Group, Kamstrup, Vestas, Newtec, and LEGO. Furthermore, our work has led to the creation of a start-up company, RadiSurf, which commercializes sealing technologies and know-how.