CO2 Hydrogenation - Multidimensional Temporal Evolution on LCC

Dr. Paulina Summa

Tuning Catalyst Interfaces for Selective CO₂ Hydrogenation
Designing stable and efficient CO₂ hydrogenation catalysts that operate under milder conditions and with reduced copper (Cu) loading remains a significant challenge in green catalysis. Our group focuses on gaining fine control over the reactive and functional interfaces of Laterally Condensed Catalysts (LCCs) to improve and better understand the performance of Cu/ZnO-based systems.

From Nanoparticles to LCC
We benchmark our work against a conventional industrial Cu/ZnO standard. However, traditional catalysts offer limited control over the spatial arrangement of Cu and ZnO phases and the dynamic Cu–ZnO interface that forms under reaction conditions—an interface that is central to catalytic performance.
To overcome this, we employ reverse ZnO/Cu LCC architectures, carefully tuning the thickness of individual layers to explore the role of bulk vs. surface properties, reducibility, and interface structure. Our findings indicate that LCCs with ZnO as the top layer show superior activity, in line with previous results on powder systems.

Alloying Strategies: Benefits and Trade-offs
We also explore electronic tuning via alloying. While Pd–ZnO systems benefit from forming PdZn alloys as active phases, we observe that extensive alloying in Cu–ZnO systems tends to suppress activity. Reference studies on Cu–ZnO nanocubes confirm that maintaining a non-bulk-like ZnO/Cu interface—rather than forming homogeneous alloys—leads to improved performance in CO₂ hydrogenation.