【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics discovers a new phenomenon where spinel-supported confined monodisperse zinc oxide decouples hydrogen activation from carbon dioxide adsorption

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A new phenomenon was discovered by our institute: the use of spinel carriers to confine monodisperse zinc oxide, thereby decoupling the activation of hydrogen from that of carbon dioxide. Publication date: 2025-04-30. Recently, the research teams led by researchers Fu Qiang and Mu Rentao from the Nanomaterials and Interface Catalysis Research Group (Group 502) at the National Key Laboratory of Energy Catalytic Conversion have made new progress in the study of oxide-oxide interface catalysis. They found that a monodisperse zinc oxide (ZnOx) layer confined on the surface of zinc chromate (ZnCr2O4) spinels can decouple the competitive activation processes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2), effectively addressing the problem of strong CO2 adsorption on oxide surfaces that hinders H2 activation, and thus enabling efficient catalytic hydrogenation reactions. Metal oxides play an important role in hydrogen-related catalytic reactions, and effective control of their surface and interfacial structures is key to improving the catalytic performance of these oxides in hydrogen-related reactions. In previous studies, this team regulated H2 activation by constructing oxide surface active centers (ACS Catal., 2022 ； Nano Res., 2023), specifically taking advantage of the interfacial confinement effect between oxides to effectively enhance the selectivity and stability of catalytic hydrogenation reactions (ACS Catal., 2022 ； JACS，2023 ； JACS，2024 ； JACS，2025 ； Nat. Commun. 2025). In this work, the researchers formed a monodisperse ZnOx cap layer structure on the surface of ZnCr2O4 using the vapor transport method, thereby preparing ZnCr2O4@ZnOx catalysts. Characterization results such as in-situ infrared spectroscopy confirmed that in the presence of CO2, ZnCr2O4@ZnOx can generate Zn−H through homolytic activation of H2, whereas pure ZnO and ZnCr2O4 structures can only produce Zn−H/Cr−H and O−H through heterolytic activation of H2 in the absence of CO2. Studies have found that in the ZnCr2O4@ZnOx catalyst, the surface of ZnCr2O4 and the ZnOx/ZnCr2O4 interface provide sites for CO2 adsorption, while the monodisperse ZnOx coating provides sites for the homolysis activation of H2 and the formation of stable Zn–H species. This dual-site design effectively addresses the issue of strong CO2 adsorption suppressing H2 activation. Under reaction conditions of 723 K, the ZnCr2O4@ZnOx catalyst exhibited a CO2 conversion rate of 33% and 100% CO selectivity, while operating stably for over 150 hours. The relevant research findings, titled “Balancing CO2 Adsorption and H2 Activation on Confined ZnOx Species for CO2 Hydrogenation”, were recently published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. The co-first authors of this achievement are Jia Haoran and Feng Xiaohui, doctoral students from Group 521 of our institute. This research was funded by projects such as the **Key Research and Development Program**, the National Natural Science Foundation, and the Carbon Neutrality Photonics Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.