Three's a charm for iron and CO2

Electrochemistry Large-scale electrochemical reduction of CO2 to CO could be a promising first step in sustainable conversion of the greenhouse gas to commodity chemicals. Currently, gold and silver are the most active catalysts for this process, whereas more abundant, less expensive metals tend to require impractically high potentials. Jun Gu et al. now report an iron catalyst with activity equaling or exceeding that of the precious metals. The key proved to be stabilization of the dispersed single iron ions in the +3 oxidation state. Science , this issue p. [1091][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaw7515