Hydroxylated TiO<sub>2</sub>-induced high-density Ni clusters for breaking the activity-selectivity trade-off of CO<sub>2</sub> hydrogenation.

Wang, Cong-Xiao; Liu, Hao-Xin; Gu, Hao; Li, Jin-Ying; Lai, Xiao-Meng; Fu, Xin-Pu; Wang, Wei-Wei; Fu, Qiang et al. · Nat Commun · 2024

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The reverse water gas shift reaction can be considered as a promising route to mitigate global warming by converting CO<sub>2</sub> into syngas in a large scale, while it is still challenging for non-Cu-based catalysts to break the trade-off between activity and selectivity. Here, the relatively high loading of Ni species is highly dispersed on hydroxylated TiO<sub>2</sub> through the strong Ni and -OH interactions, thereby inducing the formation of rich and stable Ni clusters (~1 nm) on anatase TiO<sub>2</sub> during the reverse water gas shift reaction. This Ni cluster/TiO<sub>2</sub> catalyst shows a simultaneous high CO<sub>2</sub> conversion and high CO selectivity. Comprehensive characterizations and theoretical calculations demonstrate Ni cluster/TiO<sub>2</sub> interfacial sites with strong CO<sub>2</sub> activation capacity and weak CO adsorption are responsible for its unique catalytic performances. This work disentangles the activity-selectivity trade-off of the reverse water gas shift reaction, and emphasizes the importance of metal-OH interactions on surface.