{
  "abstract": "Converting captured CO 2 into products typically requires externally supplied electricity or H 2 . Although abiotic carbon reduction has been observed in water–rock systems, productive and verifiable conversion of newly supplied inorganic carbon has not been established. Here we establish stimulated geological CO 2 reduction (Geo-CO 2 R), in which reducing equivalents released during oxidation of Fe(II)-bearing minerals drive productive conversion of supplied inorganic carbon. Natural olivine-rich rock converts supplied 13 C-bicarbonate to isotope-verified 13 C-formate within six hours, reaching a mass- and time-normalized productivity more than five orders of magnitude above the strongest prior olivine system. Experiments and calculations identify two mechanistic design rules: bicarbonate minimizes stoichiometric acid–base drift and sustains a productive interfacial pH window, while K + supports greater water dissociation and a more labile interfacial hydration environment than Na + , consistent with enhanced proton-coupled bicarbonate reduction. Mineral transformation links Fe(II) oxidation to reducing-power supply, and mechanism-guided control further enhances formate production. Translating the measured natural-rock productivity using a stimulated-rock framework indicates that laboratory-scale rates could support significant, potentially commercially relevant in-situ production even when only a small fraction of the accessible formation sustains the measured activity. Upper-bound estimates further indicate a lattice-electron inventory capable of reducing millions of gigatons of CO 2 , equivalent to tens of thousands of years of current annual global CO 2 emissions. Together, these results establish Geo-CO 2 R as a productive, verifiable and controllable pathway for coupling carbon conversion to geological reducing power and subsurface reaction environments.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Massachusetts Institute of Technology"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yifan Gao",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7144-0885"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ming Lei"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hanglong Wu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jakob Nielsen"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Haihui Lan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yaoshen Niu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Shipeng Jia"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Hugh Smith",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8466-2401"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Bachu Sravan Kumar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Willem Vanmoerkerke",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-7868-7327"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Zhen Zhang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tao Dai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Ju Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Iwnetim Abate"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f4f4ps1yk7k7x.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-7xwt2/v2",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "f4f4ps1yk7k7x",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-7xwt2/v2",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2305|CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223184458",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-7xwt2/v2",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-22",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f4f4ps1yk7k7x.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-7xwt2",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-7xwt2/v2"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "earth",
      "origin": "openalex:2305|CO2 Sequestration and Geologic Interactions",
      "subfield": "environmental-science"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Stimulated geological CO ₂ reduction",
  "title_text": "Stimulated geological CO ₂ reduction",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:26Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f4f4ps1yk7k7x",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}