Structural Properties of Spinel Ferrite Catalysts for Co2 Reduction Via Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction

The production of CO via Reverse Water Gas Shift (RWGS) reaction is a suitable route for CO2 valorization. In this study a series of modified spinels AB2O4 (A site = Ni, Zn and Cu and B site=Fe) are investigated as RWGS catalysts and their structure-to-function relationships derived from the changes on the A-site cation are rationalized. For all ferrite systems, the RWGS reaction the process main activity and selectivity is governed by the B-site cation, but the variations on the A-site metals determines catalysts’ structural features and stability in the reaction. Among the catalyst series, superior RWGS performance displayed the ferrites modified with Cu and Ni associated to the greater oxygen vacancy population for those spinels enabled by the partial allocation on Fe3+ cations into the tetrahedral sites.