Selective conversion of CO2 and H2 into aromatics

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 1 - 7
• Main Authors: Ni, Youming, Chen, Zhiyang, Fu, Yi, Liu, Yong, Zhu, Wenliang, Liu, Zhongmin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 27.08.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/135; 147/137; 639/638/675; 639/638/77/887; 639/638/898; Alkenes; Aromatic compounds; Carbon dioxide; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemical industry; Conversion; Dimethyl ether; Gasoline; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogenation; multidisciplinary; Organic chemistry; p-Xylene; Renewable energy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Selectivity; Synthesis; Variation; Xylene
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05880-4

Transformation of greenhouse gas CO 2 and renewable H 2 into fuels and commodity chemicals is recognized as a promising route to store fluctuating renewable energy. Although several C 1 chemicals, olefins, and gasoline have been successfully synthesized by CO 2 hydrogenation, selective conversion of CO 2 and H 2 into aromatics is still challenging due to the high unsaturation degree and complex structures of aromatics. Here we report a composite catalyst of ZnAlO x and H-ZSM-5 which yields high aromatics selectivity (73.9%) with extremely low CH 4 selectivity (0.4%) among the carbon products without CO. Methanol and dimethyl ether, which are synthesized by hydrogenation of formate species formed on ZnAlO x surface, are transmitted to H-ZSM-5 and subsequently converted into olefins and finally aromatics. Furthermore, 58.1% p -xylene in xylenes is achieved over the composite catalyst containing Si-H-ZSM-5. ZnAlO x &H-ZSM-5 suggests a promising application in manufacturing aromatics from CO 2 and H 2 . Selective conversion of CO 2 and H 2 into aromatics remains challenging due to the high unsaturation degree and complex structure of aromatics. Here the authors report a composite catalyst of ZnAlO x and H-ZSM-5 which promotes the formation of aromatics with high selectivity while inhibiting CO and CH 4 formation in CO 2 hydrogenation reactions.