Effects of indium promoter on iron-based catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation to hydrocarbons

Conversion of CO 2 to value-added chemicals by hydrogenation is considered as a promising way for CO 2 utilization. Addition of promoters into iron-based catalysts is a crucial strategy to enhance the catalytic performance in CO 2 hydrogenation. In this work, indium (In) was introduced into iron-based catalyst as a promoter to improve the conversion efficiency of CO 2 . The promotional effects of In on CO 2 hydrogenation were also studied by varying In loading. In promoter can accelerate the reduction of ferric oxide in iron-based catalysts. The evolution of In species had a significant influence on iron species during reaction, leading to the obvious induction period for the In-promoted catalysts with more than 3 wt% In loadings. Addition of In enhanced the adsorption of CO 2 , and obviously improved the CO 2 conversion. The CO selectivity over In-promoted catalysts slightly decreased, while the distribution of hydrocarbons changed a little. The CO 2 conversion over 10Fe2In1K/Al 2 O 3 increased 17% compared with that over the benchmark 10Fe1K/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. The insights into the promotional effects of In provides a value choice to design iron-based catalysts for CO 2 hydrogenation.