Recently, Research Center for Solar Driven Carbon Neutrality has made important progress in the field of self-operating photothermal CO₂ methanation, and the related work "Persistent photothermal _{CO2 methanation} without external energy input" was published in Energy & Environmental Science (IF=32.4, 2024) with Hebei University as the main research institution. Master students Du Kai, Guo Jiaqi, Song Chenxi and Liu Xin are the co-first authors of the this work, and researcher Li Yaguang, Professor Ye Jinhua and  Yuan Dachao are the co-corresponding authors.

Photothermal CO₂ methanation plays a key role in achieving carbon neutrality and space exploration, but photothermal CO₂ methanation cannot operate autonomously in dark conditions, which limits the industrial application. This research achieves photothermal CO₂ methanation that can be operated continuously around the clock through the coupling of a novel catalyst and a photothermal system. Firstly, a two-dimensional solid solution (2D Ni₁Ce₁O₃) of NiO and CeO₂ is synthesized, which exhibites excellent low-temperature CO₂ methanation performance. The CH₄ generation rate reaches 80±4 mmol g^-1 h^-1 and 2125±43 mmol g^-1 h^-1 at 200°C and 300°C, respectively, with a CH₄ selectivity of 99.58±0.12%. 2D Ni₁Ce₁O₃ combined with our in-house TiC/Cu-based photothermal device, the system exhibites excellent photothermal CO₂ methanation rate of 2901 mmol g^-1 h^-1 under low irradiation. The CO₂ methanation rate  reaches ~830 mmol g^-1 h^-1 even in complete darkness, due to the reaction heat of CO₂ methanation is completely maintained at the reaction temperature. The enlarged outside demonstration achieves five days of continuous operation, with a total production of 898 cubic meters and an additional 10 tons of hot water, which demonstrates the industrial potential of self-operating photothermal CO₂ methanation.

This research work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Natural Science Foundation of Hebei Province, the Department of Education of Hebei Province, the Multidisciplinary Interdisciplinary Project of Hebei University, the Institute of Life Science and Green Development of Hebei University, and the Public Testing Center of the School of Physical Science and Technology of Hebei University.

Persistent photothermal CO2 methanation without external energy input.pdf

Link：https://doi.org/10.1039/D4EE04849K