Efficient Solar-Driven CO₂ Methanation and Hydrogen Storage Over Nickel Catalyst Derived from Metal-Organic...

Solar-driven photothermal conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) to methane (CH₄ ) is a promising approach to remedy energy shortage and climate changes, where highly efficient photothermal catalysts for CO₂ methanation urgently need to be designed. Herein, nickel-based catalysts (Ni/ZrO₂ ) derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are fabricated and studied for photothermal CO₂ methanation. The optimized catalyst 50Ni/ZrO₂ achieves a stable CH₄ production rate of 583.3 mmol g^-1  h^-1 in a continuous stability test, which is almost tenfold higher than that of 50Ni/C-ZrO₂ synthesized via commercial ZrO₂ . Physicochemical properties indicate that 50Ni/ZrO₂ generates more tetragonal ZrO₂ and possesses more oxygen vacancies (OVs) as well as enhanced nickel-ZrO₂ interaction. As a result, 50Ni/ZrO₂ exhibits the strong abilities of light absorption and light-to-heat conversion, superior adsorption capacities of reactants (H₂ , CO₂ ), and an intermediate product (CO), which finally boosts CH₄ formation. This work provides an efficient strategy to design a photothermocatalyst of CO₂ methanation through utilizing MOFs-derived support.