Boosting the synthesis of value-added aromatics directly from syngasviaa Cr₂O₃and Ga doped zeolite capsule catalyst

Even though the transformation of syngas into aromatics has been realizedviaa methanol-mediated tandem process, the low product yield is still the bottleneck, limiting the industrial application of this technology. Herein, a tailor-made zeolite capsule catalyst with Ga doping and SiO₂coating was combined with the methanol synthesis catalyst Cr₂O₃to boost the synthesis of value-added aromatics, especiallypara-xylene, from syngas. Multiple characterization studies, control experiments, and density functional theory (DFT) calculation results clarified that Ga doped zeolites with strong CO adsorption capability facilitated the transformation of the reaction intermediate methanol by optimizing the first C-C coupling step under a high-pressure CO atmosphere, thereby driving the reaction forward for aromatics synthesis. This work not only reveals the synergistic catalytic network in the tandem process but also sheds new light on principles for the rational design of a catalyst in terms of oriented conversion of syngas.