Exploring CO2 activation in heterogeneous catalytic CO2 hydrogenation

Carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere because of burning fossil fuels and industrial production processes has increased in concentration and enhanced the ""greenhouse effect"", causing climate change and extreme weather.

Converting CO2 into energy-rich fuels is one of the sustainable solutions to mitigate carbon emission challenges, while also remedying the over-reliance on fossil fuels as well as contributing to achieving the European Green Deal.

A reliable and affordable CO2 conversion process remains a grand challenge because thermodynamic and kinetic constraints limit the CO2 conversion reactions; hence, novel approaches are needed to increase the reaction rate by altering the kinetics to reduce the activation energy. This project will focus on CO2 activation and its hydrogenation to valuable products.

It proposes to develop and explore unconventional approaches to activate and convert CO2 molecules; including designing catalysts with energetic surface/interface sites and employing novel plasma or electromagnetic activation with light or microwaves that can act as semiconductors in a similar way to photocatalysis but also provide hot spots at low temperature to activate CO2.

Supported metal catalysts with rich oxygen vacancy surface and interface sites will be designed and studied for efficient and highly selective CO2 hydrogenation in combination with energetic radiations.

This project will deepen understanding of CO2 transformation (hydrogenation) catalysis and contribute to an efficient, innovative CO2-to-chemical/fuel processes under relatively mild conditions, as well as integrated CO2 emission and valorisation technology in Europe.

Additionally, it will provide a practical framework for improving the CO2 industrial value chain and help push progress toward achieving the ambitious goal recommended by the EC in February 2024 to reduce CO2 emissions by 90% by 2040 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050.