Engineering of Ruthenium–Iron Oxide Colloidal Heterostructures: Improved Yields in CO₂ Hydrogenation to Hydrocarbons

Abstract

Catalytic CO2 reduction to fuels and chemicals is a major pursuit in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. One approach utilizes the reverse water‐gas shift reaction, followed by Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, and iron is a well‐known candidate for this process. Some attempts have been made to modify and improve its reactivity, but resulted in limited success. Now, using ruthenium–iron oxide colloidal heterodimers, close contact between the two phases promotes the reduction of iron oxide via a proximal hydrogen spillover effect, leading to the formation of ruthenium–iron core–shell structures active for the reaction at significantly lower temperatures than in bare iron catalysts. Furthermore, by engineering the iron oxide shell thickness, a fourfold increase in hydrocarbon yield is achieved compared to the heterodimers. This work shows how rational design of colloidal heterostructures can result in materials with significantly improved catalytic performance in CO2 conversion processes.

Synthetic Approaches to Colloidal Nanocrystal Heterostructures Based on Metal and Metal-Oxide Materials

“…Moreover, while a metal or semiconductor domain in a CNHS can permit its identification optically, a magnetic module can be exploited for supplemental purposes, such as for MRI imaging and magnetic sorting [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 212 , 213 , 214 , 215 , 216 , 217 , 218 , 219 , 220 ]. Interestingly, in a CNHS, synergistic interactions setting through the heterointerfaces between the component materials can result in significantly altered magnetic [ 38 , 101 , 102 , 220 , 221 , 222 , 223 , 224 , 225 ], optical [ 226 , 227 , 228 ], transport [ 221 ], magneto-optical [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 229 ], and (electro)catalytic [ 230 , 231 , 232 , 233 , 234 , 235 , 236 , 237 , 238 , 239 ] properties, as well as energy-storing capabilities [ 240 ]. Such wealth of chemical-physical behaviour has both...…”

Review of CO2 Reduction on Supported Metals (Alloys) and Single-Atom Catalysts (SACs) for the Use of Green Hydrogen in Power-to-Gas Concepts

“…Supported Ru catalysts have been also one of the most studied catalysts for the reduction of CO 2 for over four decades [49][50][51][52][53][54]. In this regard, these catalysts have recently attracted intensive investigations in the recent few years by several research groups [55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] as one of the promising options for power-to-gas applications. This high interest is supported by their impressively high activity at rather low temperatures [64,65].…”

Recent progress in use and observation of surface hydrogen migration over metal oxides

“…[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] However, the utilisation of hydrogen migration is not limited to catalysis. It is also fundamentally important for catalyst preparation, 18,19 hydrogen storage, 20,21 fuel cells and sensors. 22,23 Commonly, hydrogen migration is driven by the concentration gradient.…”