'Diamonds from the sky' chemistry converts greenhouse gas into valuable nanocarbon materials

Carbon nano-onions (CNOs), a less studied morphology of carbon nanomaterials, are exotic structures with extraordinary properties and numerous applications. These applications have been largely ignored due to their high synthesis cost. Researchers now have produced inexpensive, stable carbon-nano onions directly from carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide reactant replaces nano-diamonds as the reactant to form the nano-onions. The source of CO2 to produce these CNOs can be the consumption of industrial flue gas or CO2 directly captured from the air.