Selective conversion of CO2 and H2 into aromatics

Transformation of greenhouse gas CO2 and renewable H-2 into fuels and commodity chemicals is recognized as a promising route to store fluctuating renewable energy. Although several C-1 chemicals, olefins, and gasoline have been successfully synthesized by CO2 hydrogenation, selective conversion of CO2 and H-2 into aromatics is still challenging due to the high unsaturation degree and complex structures of aromatics. Here we report a composite catalyst of ZnAlOx and H-ZSM-5 which yields high aromatics selectivity (73.9%) with extremely low CH4 selectivity (0.4%) among the carbon products without CO. Methanol and dimethyl ether, which are synthesized by hydrogenation of formate species formed on ZnAlOx surface, are transmitted to H-ZSM-5 and subsequently converted into olefins and finally aromatics. Furthermore, 58.1% p-xylene in xylenes is achieved over the composite catalyst containing Si-H-ZSM-5. ZnAlOx& H-ZSM-5 suggests a promising application in manufacturing aromatics from CO2 and H-2.