Ultra-High-Efficiency On-Chip CO₂ Conversion by Nanosecond Self-Pulsing Micro-Plasma Devices

Abstract

Conversion of CO₂ into carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals remains a central challenge in sustainable chemistry and energy sectors, as conventional catalytic processes are critically limited by the thermodynamic equilibrium and low overall energy efficiency. Here, a micro-plasma chip for CO₂-to-CO conversion is introduced that achieves ultra-high energy efficiency and breaks the thermodynamic equilibrium limitation under ambient conditions. These micro-plasma devices (MPDs) with sub-10-µm discharge gaps self-generate nanosecond pulses directly from a DC bias without external pulsed-power sources and drive discharges through field emission at substantially lower voltages than conventional plasma systems, together yielding an ultra-high energy efficiency. An experimentally validated theoretical framework elucidates the device's working principle and is used for performance improvement. The resulting optimized, scaled-up MPD array constructed for benchmark comparison demonstrates 30% single-pass CO₂ conversion and 50% overall energy efficiency without any catalyst, which is unprecedented among all previously reported micro-plasma systems. Remarkably, its performance exceeds that of many conventional large-scale plasma systems, while consuming orders of magnitude less power. Integration of localized on-chip reactive species generation by MPDs with catalytic, synthetic, or electrochemical processes could spur the development of new CO₂ reduction pathways.

Keywords

CO₂ reduction / micro-discharge / microelectronics / on-chip chemistry / plasma conversion

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