Selective Conversion of CO2 to Isobutane-enriched C4 alkanes over InZrOx-Beta Composite Catalyst

Herein, by employing an InZrOx-Beta composite catalyst in the CO2 hydrogenation, we achieved a high selectivity of 53.4% to butane in hydrocarbons (CO free) under 315 °C and 3.0 MPa, at a CO2 conversion of 20.4%. Various characterizations and DFT calculation reveal that the generation of methanol-related intermediates by CO2 hydrogenation is closely related to the surface oxygen vacancies of InZrOx, which can be tuned through modulating the preparation methods.

In contrast, the three-dimensional 12-ring channels of H-Beta conduces to forming higher methylbenzenes and methylnaphthalenes containing isopropyl side-chain, which favors the transformation of methanol-related intermediates to butane through alkyl side-chain elimination and subsequent methylation and hydrogenation. Moreover, the catalytic stability of InZrOx-Beta in the CO2 hydrogenation is considerably improved by a surface silica protection strategy which can effectively inhibit the indium migration.