Copper-field

If you think this picture looks a bit blurry, try putting on a pair of 3D glasses, and you’ll be able to see it in relief. The photograph was produced using the anaglyph method, in which two images are superimposed, one in red, the other in cyan: the slight offset between the two creates the impression of depth. Featured here are stacked copper nanostructures, a metal that is a promising candidate for converting the billions of tons of CO2 that we release into the atmosphere every year into potential resources. To achieve this, researchers have developed copper-based catalysts like this one. These can efficiently convert CO2 into carbon monoxide (CO) and ethylene (C2H4), basic molecular building blocks that can be used by the petrochemical industry, and as fuels. This image was taken by scanning electron microscopy. It is one of the winners of the 2022 La preuve par l’image (LPPI) photography competition.