Nanomaterials for Clean Fuels

A new manufacturing process turns natural gas into sulphur-free diesel and methanol using nanocrystalline catalysts that are more active and selective than current materials. The problem is that much of the world's natural gas is "stranded" in remote locations where building pipelines or liquefaction plants is uneconomical. Flaring it wastes a resource and emits CO₂. Converting that gas into liquid fuels at the wellhead would solve both problems, but existing catalysts are inefficient, require high energy input, and produce unwanted byproducts. This project designs energy-efficient routes to synthesise highly dispersed nanocrystalline catalysts for methanol and Fischer-Tropsch reactions. The team—University of Liverpool, University of Cardiff, and Johnson Matthey—will combine high-throughput catalyst discovery, characterisation, and pilot-plant design to scale the process. If successful, the work could turn stranded gas into a viable feedstock for clean diesel and methanol, reducing flaring and cutting sulphur emissions from diesel engines. The impact is on energy infrastructure and supply chains rather than daily life directly—few people will see the catalyst, but they might breathe cleaner air and benefit from cheaper fuel in gas-rich regions.