Congratulations to Dr. Haoyang Jiang on Publishing a Research Article in Nature Catalysis

Light-driven CO₂ methanation over Au-grafted Ce_0.95Ru_0.05O₂ solid-solution catalysts with activities approaching the thermodynamic limit

Photothermal CO2 methanation offers a clean and sustainable solution to store intermittent renewable energy as synthetic CH4. However, its high reaction temperature and low space-time yield hinder its industrial application. Here we report an Au/Ce0.95Ru0.05O2 solid-solution catalyst exhibiting a remarkable photothermal CO2 methanation activity approaching the thermal catalysis limit under visible–near-infrared light irradiation without external heating. Localized surface-plasmon-induced hot-electron injection created abundant oxygen vacancies near the dispersed ruthenium sites, accelerating CO2 methanation. An approximately 6- to 8-fold increase in the pre-exponential factor was evidenced using Arrhenius plot analysis under visible–near-infrared light irradiation. Using a flow reactor, a photothermal CH4 production rate of 473mmol/g.h was obtained at a gas hourly space velocity of 80000ml/g.h with ~100% CH4 selectivity, ~75% single-pass CO2 conversion and excellent durability. Our study offers insights into plasmonic-steered photochemistry, which may open opportunities for the high-yielding synthesis of carbon-based chemicals using solar energy.

The related research findings were published in Nature Catalysis under the title "Light-driven CO₂ methanation over Au-grafted Ce_0.95Ru_0.05O₂ solid-solution catalysts with activities approaching the thermodynamic limit"

Article link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41929-023-00970-z