Tandem Catalysis for CO2 Hydrogenation to C2-C4 Hydrocarbons

Conversion of carbon dioxide to C-2-C-4 hydrocarbons is a major pursuit in clean energy research. Despite tremendous efforts, the lack of well-defined catalysts in which the spatial arrangement of interfaces is precisely controlled hinders the development of more efficient catalysts and in-depth understanding of reaction mechanisms. Herein, we utilized the strategy of tandem catalysis to develop a well-defined nanostructured ( catalyst CeO2 Pt@mSiO, Co for converting CO, to Cy C4 hydro- 0 carbons using two metal-oxide interfaces. C-2-C-4 hydrocarbons are found to be produced with high (60%) selectivity, which is speculated to be the result of the two-step tandem process uniquely allowed by this catalyst. Namely, the Pt/CeO2 interface converts CO, and Hy to CO, and on the neighboring Co/mSiO(2) interface yields C-2-C-4 hydrocarbons through a subsequeht Fischer Tropsch process. In addition, the catalysts show no obvious deactivation over 40 h. The successful production of C, C4 hydrocarbons via a tandem process on a rationally designed, structurally well-defined catalyst demonstrates the power of sophisticated structure control in designing nanostructured catalysts for multiple-step chemical conversions.