Non-noble nanoalloy of Ni0, Cu0 and Fe0 used for hydride transfer reaction for CO2

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels cause the intensification of greenhouse effect. Consequently, a new non-noble nanoalloy of Ni0, Cu0 and Fe0 was prepared for the production of formate (HCO2−) from CO2 in flue gas by hydride transfer reaction under atmospheric pressure and mild temperature in this work. Under the optimal reaction conditions obtained by experimental optimization, which were that catalyst dosage was 1 g·L-1, KBH4 concentration was 0.15 mol·L-1, reaction temperature was 55 °C, solution pH was 9.5 and flow velocity of flue gas was 0.5 L min-1, the CO2 conversion efficiency (CCE) was achieved as 55.97 %. Due to the employment of nanoalloy of Ni0, Cu0 and Fe0, the CCE was improved by about 25 % compared with that in non-catalytic conditions, and meanwhile, the KBH4 dosage was reduced by around 45 %. Based on the catalyst properties before and after the reaction as well as the product detection, we put forward that the electrode potential differences among the ternary transition metals resulted in the improvement of catalyst surface activity to promote KBH4 activation and the hydride transfer reaction for CO2. The work presented herein is conducive to the development of novel transition metal-based nanomaterials for CO2 resource utilization in a low-energy way.