Development of Tandem Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation to Olefins

The utilization of CO2 as a carbon source for synthesis of value-added chemicals and fuels, particularly light olefins, is one of the most attractive routes to convert CO2 as part of a large-scale process. Designing active, selective, and stable catalysts for olefin production is challenging because of the difficulty characterizing structure-property relationships for the highly complex CO2 hydrogenation reaction network. To understand the challenges and opportunities in converting CO2 directly to olefins over a single tandem catalyst, this Perspective reviews the following three routes: (1) direct hydrogenation of CO2 to olefins over promoted catalysts; (2) methanol synthesis followed by methanol-to-olefins (MeOH-mediated route); (3) CO production via the reverse-water-gas-shift reaction, followed by Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (CO-mediated route). Future research directions are proposed on the critical research areas of elucidating reaction mechanisms by combining in situ characterization techniques with density functional theory calculations, identifying structure-property relationships for the zeolite support, strategizing methods to increase catalyst lifetime, and developing advanced synthesis techniques for depositing a metal-based active phase within a zeolite for highly active, selective, and stable tandem catalysts.