Direct Production of Lower Olefins from CO₂ Conversion via Bifunctional Catalysis

Direct conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into lower olefins (C₂⁼–C₄⁼), generally referring to ethylene, propylene, and butylene, is highly attractive as a sustainable production route for its great significance in greenhouse gas control and fossil fuel substitution, but such a route always tends to be low in selectivity toward olefins. Here we present a bifunctional catalysis process that offers C₂⁼–C₄⁼ selectivity as high as 80% and C₂–C₄ selectivity around 93% at more than 35% CO₂ conversion. This is achieved by a bifunctional catalyst composed of indium–zirconium composite oxide and SAPO-34 zeolite, which is responsible for CO₂ activation and selective C–C coupling, respectively. We demonstrate that both the precise control of oxygen vacancies on the oxide surface and the integration manner of the components are crucial in the direct production of lower olefins from CO₂ hydrogenation. No obvious deactivation is observed over 150 h, indicating a promising potential for industrial application