Structural Heredity in Catalysis: CO2 Self‐Selective CeO2 Nanocrystals for Efficient Photothermal CO2 Hydrogenation to Methane

Abstract

AbstractThe chemical inertness of CO2 molecules makes their adsorption and activation on a catalyst surface one of the key challenges in recycling CO2 into chemical fuels. However, the traditional template synthesis and chemical modification strategies used to tackle this problem face severe structural collapse and modifier deactivation issues during the often‐needed post‐processing procedure. Herein, a CO2 self‐selective hydrothermal growth strategy is proposed for the synthesis of CeO2 octahedral nanocrystals that participate in strong physicochemical interactions with CO2 molecules. The intense affinity for CO2 molecules persists during successive high‐temperature treatments required for Ni deposition. This demonstrates the excellent structural heredity of the CO2 self‐selective CeO2 nanocrystals, which leads to an outstanding photothermal CH4 productivity exceeding 9 mmol h‐1 mcat‐2 and an impressive selectivity of >99%. The excellent performance is correlated with the abundant oxygen vacancies and hydroxyl species on the CeO2 surface, which create many frustrated Lewis‐pair active sites, and the strong interaction between Ni and CeO2 that promotes the dissociation of H2 molecules and the spillover of H atoms, thereby greatly benefitting the photothermal CO2 methanation reaction. This self‐selective hydrothermal growth strategy represents a new pathway for the development of effective catalysts for targeted chemical reactions.