Carbon Dioxide Hydrogenation by Means of Plasmonic Resonance Activation in Silica Aerogel Media.

Sergio Muñoz,Roland Dittmeyer,M Cocero,Ángel Martín,Alexander Navarrete

doi:10.3390/ma11112134

Sergio Muñoz, Roland Dittmeyer + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ma11112134

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Abstract

Surface Plasmon Resonance can be used to activate zinc oxide/copper catalysts in order to perform the carbon dioxide hydrogenation reaction by means of light energy, avoiding high-temperature processes. The synthesis and impregnation methods have been designed to fill glass microreactors with ZnO/Cu nanoparticles supported on transparent silica aerogels to maximize the light absorbed by the catalyst. A LED device surrounding the glass microreactors provided white light to activate the catalyst homogeneously throughout the reactor. Temperature, pressure, amount of catalyst and gases flow were studied as possible variables to enhance the process trying to maximize CO2 conversion rates, achieving the best results working at high pressures. The use of transparent SiO2 Aerogels as supports for photocatalytic gas phase reactions even under high-pressure conditions is demonstrated.

Highlights

Carbon dioxide conversion into useful products is attracting much attention in the last years as a way to reduce the greenhouse effect and its dramatic consequences for the planet [1,2]
Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) is a phenomenon exhibited by some metallic nanostructures, which results in a higher light energy absorbance that can be controlled with the shape and size of the nanoparticles
Transparent silica aerogel was used as support for carbon dioxide hydrogenation with white light using a plasmonic catalyst composed of copper and zinc oxide

Summary

Introduction

Carbon dioxide conversion into useful products is attracting much attention in the last years as a way to reduce the greenhouse effect and its dramatic consequences for the planet [1,2]. Among the options to perform this CO2 conversion, photocatalytic processes using solar energy represent an interesting way to transform CO2 due to the use of a renewable energy. Copper has been widely used for carbon dioxide hydrogenation in industry combined with the use of zinc oxide in order to produce methanol with high selectivity [12]. For this reason, Materials 2018, 11, 2134; doi:10.3390/ma11112134 www.mdpi.com/journal/materials

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