Direct conversion of CO₂ to a single specific hydrocarbon with high selectivity is extremely attractive but very challenging. Herein, a composite catalyst consisting of InZrO_x oxide and H-Beta zeolite was designed, which exhibits excellent performance in the selective hydrogenation of CO₂ to butane. Under 315 °C and 3.0 MPa, a high selectivity of 53.4% to butane in all hydrocarbons is achieved at a CO₂ conversion of 20.4%. The results of various characterization measures and DFT calculation demonstrate that the unique three-dimensional 12-membered ring structure of the H-Beta molecular sieve contributes to the formation of hydrocarbon pool species (HCP) containing higher methylbenzenes and methylnaphthalenes, which favors the successive transformation of methanol-related intermediates to butane via the aromatic-based cycle. Moreover, a method of surface SiO₂ modification was proposed, which significantly improved the catalytic stability of InZrO_x-Beta in CO₂ hydrogenation.

CO<sub>2</sub> conversion and product distribution for the CO<sub>2</sub> hydrogenation over InZrO<i><sub>x</sub></i>(CP) composed with different zeolites.

CO₂ conversion and product distribution for the CO₂ hydrogenation over InZrO_x(CP) composed with different zeolites.

Reaction scheme of butane formation via the side-chain route of aromatic-based cycle.

Weibin Fan

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