Catalysts for CO2 Conversion, Upgrading and Recycling

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 27156

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Interests: heterogeneous catalysis; reaction engineering; low-carbon energy; biomass upgrading; CO2 conversion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
Interests: advanced catalysts; nano-structured catalysts; clean H2 production; CO2 valorisation; biomass conversion

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing trend of CO2 emissions driven by the increase of global energy consumption makes mandatory a commitment of the scientific community to investigate routes for CO2 valorisation. Chemical recycling may significantly contribute to a reduction of its emissions and represents an interesting alternative to the on-going studies on carbon capture and storage (CCS). In fact,  despite the global efforts in reducing CO2 emissions after the Kyoto Protocol and recently reconsidered in the Paris’ Agreement, we are still far to meet the emissions levels requirements and herein catalysis will pay a pivotal role.

In this scenario the spirit of this Special Issue is to gather advanced research on catalytic processes, new catalytic materials and novel approaches for CO2 conversion to added value products. We welcome research papers and review articles dealing with fundamental and applied aspects of CO2 upgraging. We also aim to showcase the success of catalysis as central tool to facilitate the transition towards low carbon societies.  Join us to celebrate the successful story of catalysis for a low-carbon world.

Dr. Tomas Ramirez Reina
Prof. Jose Odriozola
Dr. Laura Pastor
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Catalysts is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • CO2 recycling
  • CCU/CCUS
  • CO2 valorization
  • Advanced Catalysts
  • Low Carbon processes
  • Added Value Chemicals
  • CO2 as carbon pool
  • Dry Reforming
  • RWGS
  • CO2 Electrochemical Reduction
  • Methane/Synthetic Natural Gas
  • Methanol production
  • Formaldehyde production
  • Formic Acid production
  • Bio-gas
  • Syngas

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (5 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

11 pages, 15074 KiB  
Article
Nickel Phosphide Catalysts as Efficient Systems for CO2 Upgrading via Dry Reforming of Methane
by Miriam González-Castaño, Estelle le Saché, Cameron Berry, Laura Pastor-Pérez, Harvey Arellano-García, Qiang Wang and Tomás R. Reina
Catalysts 2021, 11(4), 446; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11040446 - 30 Mar 2021
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 4248
Abstract
This work establishes the primordial role played by the support’s nature when aimed at the constitution of Ni2P active phases for supported catalysts. Thus, carbon dioxide reforming of methane was studied over three novel Ni2P catalysts supported on Al [...] Read more.
This work establishes the primordial role played by the support’s nature when aimed at the constitution of Ni2P active phases for supported catalysts. Thus, carbon dioxide reforming of methane was studied over three novel Ni2P catalysts supported on Al2O3, CeO2 and SiO2-Al2O3 oxides. The catalytic performance, shown by the catalysts’ series, decreased according to the sequence: Ni2P/Al2O3 > Ni2P/CeO2 > Ni2P/SiO2-Al2O3. The depleted CO2 conversion rates discerned for the Ni2P/SiO2-Al2O3 sample were associated to the high sintering rates, large amounts of coke deposits and lower fractions of Ni2P constituted in the catalyst surface. The strong deactivation issues found for the Ni2P/CeO2 catalyst, which also exhibited small amounts of Ni2P species, were majorly associated to Ni oxidation issues. Along with lower surface areas, oxidation reactions might also affect the catalytic behaviour exhibited by the Ni2P/CeO2 sample. With the highest conversion rate and optimal stabilities, the excellent performance depicted by the Ni2P/Al2O3 catalyst was mostly related to the noticeable larger fractions of Ni2P species established. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysts for CO2 Conversion, Upgrading and Recycling)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 3284 KiB  
Article
Ru/Ce/Ni Metal Foams as Structured Catalysts for the Methanation of CO2
by Stefano Cimino, Elisabetta Maria Cepollaro, Luciana Lisi, Stefano Fasolin, Marco Musiani and Lourdes Vázquez-Gómez
Catalysts 2021, 11(1), 13; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal11010013 - 24 Dec 2020
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4558
Abstract
The development of highly conductive structured catalysts with enhanced mass- and heat-transfer features is required for the intensification of the strongly exothermic catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 in which large temperature gradients should be avoided to prevent catalyst deactivation and to control selectivity. [...] Read more.
The development of highly conductive structured catalysts with enhanced mass- and heat-transfer features is required for the intensification of the strongly exothermic catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 in which large temperature gradients should be avoided to prevent catalyst deactivation and to control selectivity. Therefore, in this work we set out to investigate the preparation of novel structured catalysts obtained from a commercial open cell Ni foam with high pore density (75 ppi) onto which a CeO2 layer was deposited via electroprecipitation, and, eventually, Ru was added by impregnation. Composite Ru/Ce/Ni foam catalysts, as well as simpler binary Ru/Ni and Ce/Ni catalysts were characterized by SEM-EDX, XRD, cyclic voltammetry, N2 physisorption, H2-temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and their CO2 methanation activity was assessed at atmospheric pressure in a fixed bed flow reactor via temperature programmed tests in the range from 200 to 450 °C. Thin porous CeO2 layers, uniformly deposited on the struts of the Ni foams, produced active catalytic sites for the hydrogenation of CO2 at the interface between the metal and the oxide. The methanation activity was further boosted by the dispersion of Ru within the pores of the CeO2 layer, whereas the direct deposition of Ru on Ni, by either impregnation or pulsed electrodeposition methods, was much less effective. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysts for CO2 Conversion, Upgrading and Recycling)
Show Figures

Figure 1

9 pages, 2751 KiB  
Communication
Effect of Cu and Cs in the β-Mo2C System for CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol
by Ana Belén Dongil, Qi Zhang, Laura Pastor-Pérez, Tomás Ramírez-Reina, Antonio Guerrero-Ruiz and Inmaculada Rodríguez-Ramos
Catalysts 2020, 10(10), 1213; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10101213 - 20 Oct 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 3235
Abstract
Mitigation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions possess a major global challenge for modern societies. Herein, catalytic solutions are meant to play a key role. Among the different catalysts for CO2 conversion, Cu supported molybdenum carbide is receiving increasing attention. Hence, in the [...] Read more.
Mitigation of anthropogenic CO2 emissions possess a major global challenge for modern societies. Herein, catalytic solutions are meant to play a key role. Among the different catalysts for CO2 conversion, Cu supported molybdenum carbide is receiving increasing attention. Hence, in the present communication, we show the activity, selectivity and stability of fresh-prepared β-Mo2C catalysts and compare the results with those of Cu/Mo2C, Cs/Mo2C and Cu/Cs/Mo2C in CO2 hydrogenation reactions. The results show that all the catalysts were active, and the main reaction product was methanol. Copper, cesium and molybdenum interaction is observed, and cesium promoted the formation of metallic Mo on the fresh catalyst. The incorporation of copper is positive and improves the activity and selectivity to methanol. Additionally, the addition of cesium favored the formation of Mo0 phase, which for the catalysts Cs/Mo2C seemed to be detrimental for the conversion and selectivity. Moreover, the catalysts promoted by copper and/or cesium underwent redox surface transformations during the reaction, these were more obvious for cesium doped catalysts, which diminished their catalytic performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysts for CO2 Conversion, Upgrading and Recycling)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

23 pages, 3628 KiB  
Review
Transition Metal Carbides (TMCs) Catalysts for Gas Phase CO2 Upgrading Reactions: A Comprehensive Overview
by Qi Zhang, Laura Pastor-Pérez, Sai Gu and Tomas Ramirez Reina
Catalysts 2020, 10(9), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal10090955 - 20 Aug 2020
Cited by 38 | Viewed by 7201
Abstract
Increasing demand for CO2 utilization reactions and the stable character of CO2 have motivated interest in developing highly active, selective and stable catalysts. Precious metal catalysts have been studied extensively due to their high activities, but their implementation for industrial applications [...] Read more.
Increasing demand for CO2 utilization reactions and the stable character of CO2 have motivated interest in developing highly active, selective and stable catalysts. Precious metal catalysts have been studied extensively due to their high activities, but their implementation for industrial applications is hindered due to their elevated cost. Among the materials which have comparatively low prices, transition metal carbides (TMCs) are deemed to display catalytic properties similar to Pt-group metals (Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, Pt) in several reactions such as hydrogenation and dehydrogenation processes. In addition, they are excellent substrates to disperse metallic particles. Hence, the unique properties of TMCs make them ideal substitutes for precious metals resulting in promising catalysts for CO2 utilization reactions. This work aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances on TMCs catalysts towards gas phase CO2 utilization processes, such as CO2 methanation, reverse water gas shift (rWGS) and dry reforming of methane (DRM). We have carefully analyzed synthesis procedures, performances and limitations of different TMCs catalysts. Insights on material characteristics such as crystal structure and surface chemistry and their connection with the catalytic activity are also critically reviewed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysts for CO2 Conversion, Upgrading and Recycling)
Show Figures

Figure 1

18 pages, 4009 KiB  
Review
Dry Reforming of Ethanol and Glycerol: Mini-Review
by Jie Yu, José A. Odriozola and Tomas R. Reina
Catalysts 2019, 9(12), 1015; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal9121015 - 2 Dec 2019
Cited by 41 | Viewed by 6298
Abstract
Dry reforming of ethanol and glycerol using CO2 are promising technologies for H2 production while mitigating CO2 emission. Current studies mainly focused on steam reforming technology, while dry reforming has been typically less studied. Nevertheless, the urgent problem of CO [...] Read more.
Dry reforming of ethanol and glycerol using CO2 are promising technologies for H2 production while mitigating CO2 emission. Current studies mainly focused on steam reforming technology, while dry reforming has been typically less studied. Nevertheless, the urgent problem of CO2 emissions directly linked to global warming has sparked a renewed interest on the catalysis community to pursue dry reforming routes. Indeed, dry reforming represents a straightforward route to utilize CO2 while producing added value products such as syngas or hydrogen. In the absence of catalysts, the direct decomposition for H2 production is less efficient. In this mini-review, ethanol and glycerol dry reforming processes have been discussed including their mechanistic aspects and strategies for catalysts successful design. The effect of support and promoters is addressed for better elucidating the catalytic mechanism of dry reforming of ethanol and glycerol. Activity and stability of state-of-the-art catalysts are comprehensively discussed in this review along with challenges and future opportunities to further develop the dry reforming routes as viable CO2 utilization alternatives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catalysts for CO2 Conversion, Upgrading and Recycling)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop