Electronically Activated Fe5C2 via N-Doped Carbon to Enhance Photothermal Syngas Conversion to Light Olefins

Authors：Li, Ruizhe; Li, Yuan; Li, Zhenhua^*; Wei, Weiqin; Hao, Quanguo; Shi, Yiqiu; Ouyang, Shuxin^*; Yuan, Hong; Zhang, Tierui^*

Source：ACS Catalysis, 2022, 12(9): 5316-5326.

DOI：10.1021/acscatal.2c00926

• photothermal catalysis
• nitrogen dopant
• Fe5C2
• CO hydrogenation
• light olefins

Solar-driven CO hydrogenation to light olefins holds great potential as a petroleum-independent process. Herein, a series of Fe5C2 loading on tunable N-doped carbon as photothermal catalysts are developed to achieve an efficient Fischer-Tropsch synthesis to olefin (FTO) reaction. Under light irradiation, the optimized catalyst delivers a selectivity of 55.3% for light olefins (CO(2 )free) at a CO conversion of 22.3%, showing 3.5 times the activity of pristine Fe5C2 catalyst. Experimental characterizations reveal electron transfer from the N atoms in support to the active phase of Fe(5)C(2 )to construct electronrich active sites and therefore to boost the catalytic performance. N-concentrationdependent activity evaluation and density functional theory calculations ascertain that pyrrolic N plays a dominant role in promoting CO adsorption and activation. This study provides an alternative strategy of rational modulation of support to enhance solar-to-chemical conversion.

• Institution
  中国科学院研究生院