Hydroxy-induced cobalt oxides for syngas to light olefins.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 41922698.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-10204-4.
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Abstract
Light olefins-ethylene, propylene and butylene (C<sub>2</sub><sup>=</sup>-C<sub>4</sub><sup>=</sup>)-are essential building blocks in the chemicals industry and are traditionally produced by thermal or catalytic cracking of hydrocarbon feedstocks. Directly converting syngas (CO and H<sub>2</sub>) into light olefins under mild conditions is attractive but challenging<sup>1-4</sup>. Prismatic cobalt carbide (Co<sub>2</sub>C) and associated hydrophobic modifications have shown potential for selective light-olefin synthesis under mild conditions<sup>5,6</sup>. Here we show another hydrophilic-promotion strategy in which a set of hydroxy promoters, exemplified by hydroxyapatite (Ca<sub>5</sub>(PO<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>(OH), HAP), fumed silica (SiO<sub>2</sub>(F)) and amorphous boehmite (AlO(OH), AB), is physically mixed with a Co<sub>2</sub>MnO<sub>4</sub> precursor, inducing synergistic cobalt-manganese (Co-Mn) oxides and Co<sub>2</sub>C for syngas conversion. The induced anorthic Co-Mn oxides may serve as active phase for adsorbed-hydrogen-assisted CO dissociation to CH<sub>x</sub>/CH<sub>x</sub>O intermediates, whereas induced Co<sub>2</sub>C or the Co<sub>2</sub>C-oxide interface may mediate C-C coupling of these intermediates to form light olefins. This design achieved 70-82% CO conversion with light-olefins selectivity of more than 60% at 250-260 °C, 0.1 MPa with H<sub>2</sub>/CO ratios of 1-2, giving light-olefins carbon utilization efficiency up to 13%, among the highest reported for syngas to light olefins. This simple hydrophilic strategy for facilitating CO activation may provide useful insights for improving industrial Fischer-Tropsch processes.