Direct conversion of CO₂ to light aromatics by composite ZrCr-C/ZSM-5 catalyst

In recent years, the direct and efficient conversion of CO₂ to light aromatics (BTX: benzene, toluene and xylene) has attracted wide attention. It not only reduces the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere but also provides a promising non-petroleum technology to produce BTX. Herein, a composite ZrCr-C/ZSM-5 catalyst was developed for CO₂ to BTX. Different with conventional SiO₂ modification method, the HZSM-5 zeolite was modified by amorphous carbon (C) through a facile modified impregnation method. The amorphous C could enter the internal channel of HZSM-5 zeolite and poison partial acid sites. In CO₂ to BTX reaction, after introducing 1.45 wt% C on HZSM-5 zeolite, BTX selectivity increased from 36.2% to 45.4%. In addition, the ZrCr-1.45 C/ZSM-5 catalyst exhibited 46.9% BTX selectivity with 13.5% CO₂ conversion, under 5.0 MPa, 360 °C and 4800 mL/g_cat/h. This work not only paves a new strategy to modify HZSM-5 zeolite but also provides an efficient composite catalyst for direct conversion of CO₂ to BTX.