Scientists have found a way to take carbon dioxide—the main gas causing climate change—and turn it into a useful material for making cement.
This breakthrough, led by chemist Charles McCrory from the University of Michigan, could help lower the environmental impact of cement production while reducing harmful carbon emissions in the air.
The team behind the discovery includes researchers from the University of Michigan, UC Davis, and UCLA.
Their work, published in Advanced Energy Materials, is part of a larger effort through the Center for Closing the Carbon Cycle (4C), which focuses on finding new ways to reuse carbon dioxide instead of just storing it underground.
Cement, especially the common Portland cement, is made using limestone and other minerals like calcium silicates.
However, the process of making it is energy-intensive and produces a lot of carbon dioxide. That’s a big problem, especially as the world works to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The researchers wanted to find a way to make alternative cement ingredients using carbon dioxide itself.
They found that carbon dioxide can be converted into something called metal oxalates, which are solid salts that can be used in the cement-making process.
To do this, the team used a chemical reaction powered by electricity, with carbon dioxide converted into oxalate at one electrode. At the other electrode, metal ions are released and combine with the oxalate to form solid metal oxalates, which are collected for use.
The process needed a catalyst to work—a substance that helps speed up the chemical reaction. Lead is known to be a good catalyst for this reaction, but it’s toxic and harmful to both people and the environment. Using large amounts of lead would make the process unsafe and impractical for industrial use.
To solve this, the team made a major improvement. They used polymers—large, chain-like molecules—to control the tiny environment around the lead catalysts. This allowed them to use extremely small amounts of lead—only parts per billion, which is about the same amount already found in many commercial carbon materials. This trace amount of lead is enough to drive the reaction but not enough to cause harm, making the process much safer and more environmentally friendly.
The idea to use such tiny amounts of lead came from Jesús Velázquez’s lab at UC Davis, while Anastassia Alexandrova’s lab at UCLA provided computer simulations to confirm that the chemical reactions would work as expected.
What makes this method especially exciting is that it captures carbon dioxide permanently in a solid form. Once turned into a metal oxalate, the carbon won’t be released back into the atmosphere under normal conditions. It’s not just about storing the carbon—it’s about turning it into something useful.
While this process isn’t ready for large-scale production yet, the researchers believe it can be scaled up in the future. Work is already underway on using electrolysis for capturing carbon dioxide on a large scale. The next step is finding efficient ways to produce and collect the solid materials on an industrial level.
This discovery offers hope for a cleaner way to make cement and a new path for recycling the carbon dioxide we’re trying to keep out of the atmosphere.
