Directly converting CO<sub>2</sub> into a gasoline fuel.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28462925.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms15174 and PMC identifier 5418575.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
The direct production of liquid fuels from CO<sub>2</sub> hydrogenation has attracted enormous interest for its significant roles in mitigating CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and reducing dependence on petrochemicals. Here we report a highly efficient, stable and multifunctional Na-Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>/HZSM-5 catalyst, which can directly convert CO<sub>2</sub> to gasoline-range (C<sub>5</sub>-C<sub>11</sub>) hydrocarbons with selectivity up to 78% of all hydrocarbons while only 4% methane at a CO<sub>2</sub> conversion of 22% under industrial relevant conditions. It is achieved by a multifunctional catalyst providing three types of active sites (Fe<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>, Fe<sub>5</sub>C<sub>2</sub> and acid sites), which cooperatively catalyse a tandem reaction. More significantly, the appropriate proximity of three types of active sites plays a crucial role in the successive and synergetic catalytic conversion of CO<sub>2</sub> to gasoline. The multifunctional catalyst, exhibiting a remarkable stability for 1,000 h on stream, definitely has the potential to be a promising industrial catalyst for CO<sub>2</sub> utilization to liquid fuels.