Recently, Research Center for Solar Driven Carbon Neutrality has made breakthrough progress in the field of photothermal green synthesis gas production. The related work "Environmental sunlight driven photothermal green synthesis gas production at a scale of 100 m³ by the dynamic structural reconstruction of iron oxides with 38.7% efficiency" was published in Advanced Functional Materials (IF=18.5, 2024) with Hebei University as the main research institution. Dr. Li Yaguang, Professor Ye Jinhua, and Professor Zhang Zhibo from Guangdong Academy of Sciences are co corresponding authors of the paper. PhD students Wu Qixuan and Wang Yachuan, master's student Wang Jialin, and Dr. Yuan Dachao from Hebei Agricultural University are co first authors of the paper.

The production of green synthesis gas through the photothermal reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) driven by natural sunlight is one of the important reactions for achieving carbon neutrality, but there is a lack of efficient and inexpensive catalysts that can work in low-temperature environments. The low-cost iron oxide catalyst modified with silver potassium particles achieves a RWGS CO yield of 1089 mmol g^-1 h^-1 at 300 ° C, with a CO selectivity of 100%, which is comparable to the reported highly active platinum based catalysts. In situ characterization and theoretical simulations indicate that potassium silver nanoparticles can activate H₂ and reduce Fe₃O₄ to metallic iron, which can react with CO₂ to generate CO and Fe₃O₄ at low temperatures, thus realizing low-temperature RWGS. This catalyst can achieve low-cost mass production, coupled with a self-made photothermal device, realizing a standard solar driven photothermal RWGS with a CO yield of 1925 mmol g^-1 h^-1 and a light enthalpy conversion efficiency of 38.7%. In addition, the large-scale outdoor demonstration can generate 100.6 cubic meters of green synthesis gas per day, demonstrating its potential for application. This work provides a new path for designing inexpensive and efficient CO₂ hydrogenation catalysts, and demonstrates the applicability of photothermal green synthesis gas production.

This research work has received strong support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, the Education Department of Hebei Province, the Natural Science Interdisciplinary Research Program of Hebei University, the Advanced Talent Incubation Program of Hebei University, the Research Funds of Hebei University and Hebei Agricultural University, as well as the Public Testing Center of the School of Physical Science and Technology at Hebei Univers

Ambient sunlight driven photothermal green syngas production at 100 m3 scale by the dynamic structural reconstruction of iron oxides with 38.7% efficiency.pdf

Link:https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202412562