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Updated: Jun 12, 2025
Synthesis and Performance Characterizations of Transition Metal Single Atom Catalyst for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction
Published on: April 10, 2018
Ethanol synthesis via catalytic CO2 hydrogenation over multi-elemental KFeCuZn/ZrO2 catalyst
Pengfei Du1, Abdellah Ait El Fakir1, Shirun Zhao1
1Institute for Catalysis, Hokkaido University Sapporo 001-0021 Japan toyao@cat.hokudai.ac.jp Abdellah@cat.hokudai.ac.jp kshimizu@cat.hokudai.ac.jp.
Abstract:
Technological enablers that use CO2 as a feedstock to create value-added chemicals, including ethanol, have gained widespread appeal. They offer a potential solution to climate change and promote the development of a circular economy. However, the conversion of CO2 to ethanol poses significant challenges, not only because CO2 is a thermodynamically stable and chemically inert molecule but also because of the complexity of the reaction routes and uncontrollability of C-C coupling. In this study, we developed an efficient catalyst, K-Fe-Cu-Zn/ZrO2 (KFeCuZn/ZrO2), which enhances the EtOH space time yield (STYEtOH) to 5.4 mmol gcat -1 h-1, under optimized conditions (360 °C, 4 MPa, and 12 L gcat -1 h-1). Furthermore, we investigated the roles of each constituent element using in situ/operando spectroscopy such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). These results demonstrate that all components are necessary for efficient ethanol synthesis.
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