(138b) Design of New Bimetallic Catalysts for More Selective CO2 Hydrogenation to Olefins and Methanol

CO₂ recovered from industrial flue gas can be hydrogenated using H₂ produced from H₂O using renewable energy, for manufacturing chemicals (lower olefins such as ethylene and propylene, methanol, and carbonates), and fuels (such as liquid transportation fuels including gasoline, diesel and jet fuels, methanol/DME, or synthetic natural gas). The challenges are to develop highly selective and active catalysts and energy-efficient catalytic processing, apart from the need to lower the cost of H₂ production using renewable energy. This presentation will discuss some new bimetallic catalysts (M1-M2, M1=Fe, Pd, Co, M2=Co, Cu, Ni, Pd) based on our recent research at Penn State and based on our collaboration with researchers in China, Thailand, and Japan. The hydrogenation of CO₂ over novel bimetallic catalysts can selectively produce either C₂-C₄⁼ olefins(and C5+ liquid hydrocarbons) using Fe-Co catalysts, or methanol over Pd-Cu catalysts. Nano-structured catalysts based on hollow zeolite-encapsulated Ni nanoparticles can create a highly stable and carbon-resistant catalystsfor co-conversion of CO₂ and CH₄ in bio-gas and natural gas to syngas for chemicals and ultra-clean fuels. Some recent advance in industrial CO2 conversion will also be briefly discussed.