Amid the global push toward carbon neutrality, efficiently and selectively converting carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into useful chemicals remains a significant challenge for the scientific community.
To tackle this issue, a collaborative research team led by Prof. LIU Yuefeng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in partnership with researchers from Chengdu University, Taiyuan University of Technology, and the University of Messina, has developed a gas-induced structure evolution strategy. This innovation has resulted in a "self-transforming" catalyst that redefines the process of CO 2 hydrogenation.
The findings of the study were published in Nature Communications on March 7.
The research team discovered a reaction-induced carbon restructuring effect driven by the Co-Mn interface on cobalt-based nanoclusters. By designing a 2Co/MnO x catalyst—where cobalt nanoclusters with a 2 wt% loading are supported on manganese oxide—the team achieved a targeted shift in product selectivity during CO 2 hydrogenation, changing the dominant product from methane (CH 4 ) to carbon monoxide (CO).
Notably, the study increased the CO/CH 4 product ratio from an initial 0.89 to 13.4, with CO selectivity surging from 45.7% to 94.0% within five hours of the reaction.
Furthermore, the researchers deciphered the underlying mechanism: the core of this effect lies in the unique Co-C-O-Mn bridge adsorption sites formed at the Co-MnO interface. These sites facilitate the dissociation of CO, generating polymeric carbon species that modify the cobalt nanoclusters. This modification suppresses the secondary adsorption and hydrogenation of CO intermediates, ultimately enabling ultrahigh CO selectivity.
A key advantage of this catalyst is its reversible structure: treating it with H 2 at 500 °C can remove the polymeric carbon species, restoring the catalyst's initial CH 4 selectivity. This reversibility offers valuable flexibility for industrial catalytic regulation.
Cobalt-based nanoclusters are core active components in critical industrial catalytic reactions, but structural evolutions such as coking during reactions have long been considered a primary cause of catalyst deactivation. This study breaks with this traditional understanding, turning reaction-induced structural changes into a powerful tool for tuning catalytic selectivity.
It reveals a restructuring mechanism entirely distinct from conventional cobalt carbide or carbon-encapsulated cobalt systems, providing a brand-new design principle for developing highly selective, CO-poisoning-resistant cobalt-based catalysts.
Nature Communications
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Reaction-induced modification of Co nanoclusters driven by Co-Mn interfacial sites to control selectivity in CO2 hydrogenation
7-Mar-2026