Promotional Effect of ZrO2 on supported FeCoK Catalysts for Ethylene Synthesis from catalytic CO2 hydrogenation

Abstract

This study is to convert renewable H2 and increasingly concerned CO2 to ethylene or C2H4 over Fe3.33Co1.67K5/ZrO2 and Fe3.33Co1.67K5/Al2O3 catalysts. The ZrO2 support provides amounts of surface oxygen vacancies (OVs) as well as stable and rich surface hydroxyl groups (-OH), which promotes the Fe3.33Co1.67K5/ZrO2 catalysts with 5% Fe and Co loadings to achieve C2H4 space time yield (STY) of 0.064 mmolC2H4∙m−2cat∙h−1 at 290 °C and 2.0 MPa, while the Fe3.33Co1.67K5/Al2O3 catalysts only reach C2H4 STY of 0.009 mmolC2H4∙m−2cat∙h−1 at 330 °C and 2 MPa Fe3.33Co1.67K5/ZrO2 catalysts are very promising for converting the captured CO2 and renewable H2 to highly demanded C2H4. This work not only provides a guideline for developing efficient catalysts but also advances the mechanistic understanding of catalytic CO2 hydrogenation.