CO2Fuels - Direct Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Renewable Fuels

化石衍生液体燃料由于其高能量密度和易于操作而在航空和汽车运输业中占主导地位。然而，对二氧化碳排放的日益关注和电池技术的改进正在导致汽车运输能源的快速变化。因此，英国政府和其他许多国家一样，宣布从2035年起禁止销售新的汽油和柴油汽车。不幸的是，由于当前电池技术的低功率重量密度，电池不能用于商业航空。通过CO2加氢（其中H2来自水电解）开发碳中性航空燃料是航空业和UKRI的优先事项（https：//ktn-uk.org/transmart/sustainable-aviation/）。最近的报道显示，沸石催化剂与锌基氢化催化剂的紧密组合产生了可以将CO2转化为液体范围燃料的多功能材料（例如Nat.Commun.，2017，8，15174; ACS Cent.Sci.，2020，6，1657）。早期的工作已经表明，催化剂复合材料的宏观控制可以针对不同的燃料类型（汽油与喷气燃料）调整产物范围。然而，关于催化剂组分的形态和微观紧密性如何影响产物选择性的知之甚少。利用我们对改性沸石中锌形态的了解和控制（Sustainable Energy Fuels，2021，5，2136和ChemPhysChem，2020，21，673），我们将开发结构-功能活性关系，使合理的催化剂设计能够针对可持续喷气燃料。多功能催化剂将仅由地球丰富的无毒元素（Al，Si，Zn，Fe，Cu）制成，并实现循环航空燃料经济性。

Fossil-derived liquid fuels have dominated the aviation and motor transport industry due to their high energy density and ease of manipulation. However, ever-growing concerns over CO2 emissions and improving battery technology are leading to rapid changes in energy sources for motor transportation. Consequently, the UK government, like many others, has announced a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035. Unfortunately, batteries cannot be deployed for commercial aviation due to the low power to weight density of current battery technology. Developing carbon neutral aviation fuel through CO2 hydrogenation, where H2 is derived from water electrolysis, is a priority for the aviation industry and UKRI (https://ktn-uk.org/transport/sustainable-aviation/). Recent reports show that intimate combinations of zeolite catalysts with zinc-based hydrogenation catalysts produces a multifunctional material that can hydrogenate CO2 to liquid range fuels (e.g. Nat. Commun., 2017, 8, 15174; ACS Cent. Sci., 2020, 6, 1657). Early work has shown that macroscopic control of the catalyst composite can tune the product range to different fuel types (gasoline vs jet fuel). However, much less is known about how the speciation and microscopic intimacy of the catalyst components affects product selectivity. Using our knowledge and control of zinc speciation in modified zeolites (Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021, 5, 2136 and ChemPhysChem, 2020, 21, 673) we will develop structure-function activity relationships that will enable rational catalyst design to target sustainable jet fuel. The multifunctional catalysts will be made solely from earth abundant, non-toxic elements (Al, Si, Zn, Fe, Cu) and enable a circular aviation fuel economy.