Carbon dioxide as a typical low-cost carbon-containing raw material, its catalytic conversion is the focus of researchers. The Power to Gas P2G process can convert the electricity into renewable chemical energy by the reaction of H2 and CO2 produced by electrolyzed water (methanation) . It is still a challenge to design catalysts with specific structure by screening metal and carrier precursors and to give full play to their excellent properties in catalytic reactions. Associate Professor Yan Xiaoliang of the School of Chemical Engineering is the first author of the paper (co-first author, Zhejiang University) and Geoffrey A. In collaboration with Professor Ozin's team, it was proposed that the relative positions of nickel components and carriers could be changed through the microenvironment regulation of 2D siloxane nanosheets, and then CO2-catalyzed reactions could be conducted to produce different products. The researchers controlled the placement of nickel by changing the terminal groups of siloxane and the solvents used in the nucleation and growth of the Nickel@siloxane nanocomposites.

Published by Nature communications, Nickel@siloxene catalyticnanosheets for high-performance CO2methanation, 2019,10,2608.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10464-x

It was found that nickel has higher CO2 methanation activity, selectivity and stability in the interior of Siloxane nanoflakes (Nickel@siloxane) than nickel does in the exterior of Siloxane nanoflakes. The two catalysts have different reaction paths, the former is mainly the decomposition mechanism of CO2, then the intermediate products of Co are decomposed to produce CH4, while the latter is the association mechanism of CO2, and the obtained HCOO-intermediate species is hydrogenated to produce CH4, the production of CO is effectively avoided. The CO2 methanation rate of nickel between siloxane sheets was 100 MMOL GNI-1 h-1, and the selectivity was over 90% . In addition, the in-situ EXAFS results showed that the stability of the catalyst was improved by the addition of nickel formed during the slow-release reaction of Nickel@siloxane. This work innovatively proposes that the synthesis of efficient catalysts for different purposes can be achieved through the regulation of the microenvironment of the two-dimensional material carrier.

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21878203, U1463209) and the natural science foundation of Shanxi Province (201703D421037,201801D121061) . Associate Professor Yan Xiaoliang is one of the key members of the outstanding innovation team of Shanxi University (team leader Professor Li Ruifeng) , and the Outstanding Youth Principal Investigator Support Program of the university, 2018 Shanxi Province "San Jin Ying Cai" young talent support program, successively won the National Natural Science Youth and face foundation, in naturecommune. Come on, J. UH, catala. That's right, appll. UH, catala. A / B, catala. A series of famous international journals such  as Today have published many papers.