A team at Rice University has used nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (NGQDs) as a catalyst in electrochemical reactions that create ethylene and ethanol, and the stability and efficiency of the material is close to that of common electrocatalysts like copper.

Reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere is one weapon in the fight to slow climate change, and plenty of research is looking into how we can capture carbon at the source, using clay, engineered bacteria, metal-organic frameworks or materials like the "Memzyme," and sequester it into rock and concrete. Other studies are focusing on how we can convert that captured carbon into liquid hydrocarbons, which can then be used as fuel.