A new catalyst for making methane from CO2 and H2 – Catalyst methane CO2 H2 - Arhive

The Sabatier reaction, in which H₂ and CO₂ react at temperatures of 300–400°C in the presence of a nickel catalyst, or an alumina-supported ruthenium catalyst, is one way to reduce CO₂ into methane. Until now, however, it has been difficult to find efficient, resilient catalysts with good selectivity. A promising candidate for making methane from CO₂ has been developed by the research group of professor Christian Doonan at the University of Adelaide (Australia; www.adelaide.edu.au) and colleagues from CSIRO (www.csiro.au). The catalyst — a ruthenium-impregnated zirconium-based metal-organic framework (MOF) — could pave the way for producing carbon-neutral fuels.

The new catalyst is based on a commercially available zirconium terephthalate MOF called UiO-66. The group used a wet impregnation method to introduce RuCl₃ into the pores of the activated MOF. The catalyst was dried and activated for testing in a fixed-bed microreactor. A mixture of H₂ and CO₂ (with a 4-to-1 mole ratio) was flowed over the top of the catalyst. The best results were obtained at temperatures of 330–350°C and a pressure of 500 kPa. Under these conditions, the catalyst converted 96% of CO₂ into methane, with 99% selectivity. The only observed byproduct was CO. Also, the catalyst remained stable and active and retained its selectivity to methane, even after more than 160 h of testing.

Doonan says the group’s research priorities are now a technical and economic assessment and development of scale-up methods. “We are also trying to fully determine the structure of the Ru species.”