Natural Sunlight‐Driven CO2 Hydrogenation into Light Olefins at Ambient Pressure over Bifunctional Cu‐Promoted CoFe Alloy Catalyst

Abstract

AbstractThe natural sunlight‐driven conversion of CO2 into valuable C2+ products is urgently being pursued at ambient pressure, yet it poses a substantial challenge. Herein, a bifunctional Cu‐promoted CoFe alloy catalyst is designed for the natural light‐driven CO2 hydrogenation into light olefins. Under a weak solar‐irradiation intensity of 0.45 kW m−2 (0.45 sun), the optimal catalyst exhibits excellent activity and selectivity, with an impressive 73.7% selectivity for C2+ hydrocarbons and an outstanding 56.5% selectivity for C2‐4 olefins, which is the best catalyst for C2+ hydrocarbons photosynthesis from natural sunlight to date. The bifunctional design of the catalyst combines the advantages of both metallic Cu and CoFe alloy components, providing a synergistic effect that enhances the CO2 hydrogenation performance. The Cu promoter plays a crucial role in enhancing the adsorption of CO2 and hydrogen spillover, while the CoFe alloy provides a stable coupling site of the C1 intermediate for promoting the C2‐4 olefins. This study provides new insights into the design of bifunctional catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation and opens up new possibilities for sustainable production of light olefins from renewable resources.