Researchers Use Solar Energy to Reduce Chemical Manufacturing Emissions

New method can significantly lower energy needs and carbon footprint of key industrial chemical process

Published on Mar. 5, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Researchers have developed a new process that uses solar energy to power a key chemical reaction in manufacturing, significantly reducing the energy required and eliminating harsh byproducts. The method, called plasmonic chemistry, uses light-absorbing catalysts made from gold nanoparticles and manganese oxide to weaken chemical bonds and facilitate the epoxidation reaction without high-temperature heating, which is typically energy-intensive and contributes to carbon emissions.

Why it matters

Olefin epoxidation is a critical industrial process that produces chemicals used in textiles, plastics, pharmaceuticals and other products. However, the current standard process relies on harsh oxidizing agents that are difficult to dispose of safely and emit carbon dioxide. This new solar-powered method offers a much greener alternative that could dramatically shrink the chemical manufacturing industry's environmental footprint.

The details

The researchers, led by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Prashant Jain, used light-absorbing "antenna" catalysts made from gold nanoparticles and manganese oxide nanowires. This design combines electricity and visible-light photons to break the strong bonds in water molecules, effectively turning water into an oxidant without requiring high-temperature heating. The weakened chemical bonds allow oxygen atoms to be extracted from water and added to the target chemical, forming an epoxide product.

  • The new study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 2026.

The players

Prashant Jain

A chemistry professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the lead researcher on the study.

Susana Inés Córdoba de Torresi

A researcher at the Universidade de São Paulo and a co-author on the study.

George Schatz

A researcher at Northwestern University and a co-author on the study.

Lucas Germano

A former Illinois researcher and co-author who led the development of the light-absorbing "antenna" catalysts used in the new process.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“Boosting electrochemistry with light energy, a relatively new concept developed around 2018, was first applied to ammonia synthesis and CO2 reduction with promising results. The current study is the result of hypothesizing that this technique could apply to industrially relevant epoxidation reactions. If successful, we knew that our new method could mark a significant advance in both the chemical manufacturing industry and in the study of electrochemistry in general.”

— Prashant Jain, Chemistry professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Journal of the American Chemical Society)

What’s next

The researchers say the next steps will be to replace the lasers used in the lab demonstration with more scalable, energy-efficient light sources, to better control the light-driven reactions to prevent overoxidation, and to engineer large, light-accessible electrolyzer systems that can scale up the activity observed in the lab-scale reactors.

The takeaway

This new solar-powered method for the critical industrial process of olefin epoxidation offers a promising path to dramatically reduce the energy needs and carbon emissions of chemical manufacturing. If successfully scaled up, it could mark a significant advance in making the industry more sustainable.