Development of a Novel Ni Based Heterogeneous Catalyst for CO2 Conversion

Human life and the ecological environment have been affected by global warming and climate changes. Fossil fuel depletion, global warming, climate change, and steep hikes in the price of fuels are driving scientists to investigate on commercial and environmentally friendly fuels. The primary objective of this project is to develop a novel Ni based heterogeneous catalyst to enhance the catalytic conversion of CO2 by H2 for the synthesis of value added chemicals such as CO, methanol and fuels. The Ni-based solution we developed can be tuned to be either acidic or basic to adapt to different catalyst support. The solution was characterized by Ultraviolet- visible spectroscopy and the Ni adsorption was determined at ~200 nm. The heterogeneous catalyst was synthesized on alumina support (acidic) and active carbon support (basic) via Wet Incipient Impregnation method. The synthesized catalyst is to be tested for CO2 hydrogenation at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). Catalyst characterization such as Brunauer Emmett Teller (BET) surface area, pore size and volume, Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), etc. will be carried out at BNL and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP, a top institute in Catalysis in China) with an aim to establish relationship between activity and properties. This fundamental study will serve as guidance for us to understand the reaction pathway of CO2 hydrogenation