Anthropogenic CO2 emission is widely accepted to have harmful impact on the global climate and CO2 hydrogenation could play a role in decreasing the amount of atmospheric or emitted CO2. The control and localization possible with plasmon induced heating of catalysts may provide higher energy efficiency with fewer issues caused by excess heat present in conventional thermal reactors. We investigated the use of plasmonic heating for CO2 hydrogenation with ZnO catalysts. ZnO catalysts modified with varying Au loads (0, 0.5, 5, and 15%) were prepared using wetness impregnation, and exposed to a 532 nm laser beam in a fixed bed reactor under a CO2 -H2 stream (H2/CO2 = 3). Pure ZnO does not absorb light at 532 nm, and the catalyst was found to be inactive. Addition of gold was necessary for the catalyst to be active, but the catalyst with the lowest loading (0.5%) was the most active. The gold likely creates localized heating on ZnO due to plasmon resonance excitation, with the heated ZnO catalyzing the reaction. As would be expected, yield increased with increase in laser intensity. Carbon monoxide was the only product formed in significant quantities. These results will be discussed and compared with those obtained in a conventional thermal reactor.

Plasmon induced heating of Au modified ZnO for CO2 hydrogenation

251st National Meeting (2016)

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