【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Chinese scientists have achieved a major breakthrough for the first time: using iron-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts to achieve a CO2 selectivity of less than 1% and an olefin selectivity of over 85%

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The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is an important catalytic reaction technique in the chemical industry, primarily used to convert syngas into high-value chemicals such as liquid fuels or olefins. The team led by Wen Xiaodong from the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Martin’s team from Peking University, has achieved a major breakthrough for the first time: on iron-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts, they have achieved a CO2 selectivity of less than 1% and an olefin selectivity of over 85%. This represents a new approach to the clean and efficient utilization of high-carbon resources. On October 30, 2025, the relevant research findings were published in Science. Olefins are key raw materials for chemical products such as synthetic fibers, rubber, and plastics, and are regarded as the \"cornerstone of the chemical industry\". For a long time, industrial olefins have mainly come from petroleum cracking. With dwindling oil resources and the advancement of the \"dual carbon\" goals, developing green and low-carbon pathways using syngas produced from coal, natural gas, or biomass gasification has become an international research priority. Among them, the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis has attracted considerable attention due to its ability to directly convert syngas into olefins and fuels. However, traditional iron-based catalysts possess multiple activities in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, water-gas shift, and carbon monoxide disproportionation, resulting in the generation of large amounts of CO2 and severely limiting carbon utilization efficiency and olefin selectivity. To overcome this bottleneck, researchers combined surface chemical potential control theory with automated high-throughput experiments to propose a co-feed control strategy for trace halohydrocarbons. Through various advanced characterization techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, and high-sensitivity low-energy ion scattering spectroscopy, it was found that introducing halohydrocarbons at the parts-per-million level into the reaction gas enables effective regulation of the cycling of surface oxygen species at the molecular level, thereby dynamically controlling the catalytic performance of the catalyst surface: by blocking the dissociation of H2O and suppressing the water-gas shift (WGS) side reactions ； Preventing the binding of surface O to CO virtually eliminates the CO2 produced by the disproportionation reaction ； It suppresses the side reactions of olefin hydrogenation, significantly increasing the olefin yield. This \"molecular surgical\" strategy does not require any changes to the catalyst formula; simply by introducing trace amounts of halogens into the reaction system, it enables near-zero CO2 emissions and high olefin selectivity, offering the advantage of being ready to use immediately and applicable in various situations. This study not only achieved breakthroughs in both low carbon emissions and high efficiency, but also revealed the activation and regulation mechanisms of halogens in the reaction, providing an important theoretical basis for understanding the microscopic reaction pathways of iron-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts. In the future, the team will continue to explore the industrial scale-up and long-term stability testing of halogen regulation strategies, aiming to promote their application in areas such as coal-to-oil conversion, natural gas transformation, and biomass utilization, thereby helping China’s coal chemical industry transition toward higher efficiency, lower carbon emissions, and greener practices.