Tuning the selectivity of the CO2 hydrogenation reaction using boron-doped cobalt-based catalysts

Direct CO2 hydrogenation to value-added chemicals is a promising path toward realizing the “carbon-neutral” goal. However, controlling the selectivity of CO2 hydrogenation toward desired products (e.g., CO and CH4) using non-precious metal-based catalysts is important but challenging. It is imperative to explore catalysts with high activity and stability. Herein, boron-doped cobalt nanoparticles supported on H-ZSM-5 were devised for CO2 hydrogenation to produce CO in a gas–solid flow system. Our results demonstrate that boron doping not only increases the CO2 adsorption capability of the catalyst but also optimizes the electronic state of Co for CO desorption during hydrogenation process. As a result, the boron-doped cobalt catalysts displayed an enhanced CO selectivity of 94.5% and a CO2 conversion rate of 45.6%, which is much higher than that of Co-ZSM-5 without boron doping. This study shows that the strategic design of metal borides is important for controlling the selectivity of desired products in the CO2 hydrogenation reaction.