Abstract
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•Economically viable catalysts for gas phase CO2 upgrading.•Ni promoted active phases supported on saponite clay as nature inspired catalysts.•Advantageous bimetallic Ni-Cu formulation to suppress methanation.•Remarkable selectivity for low temperature RWGS using Ni-Cu/Saponite.
Chemical CO2 upgrading via reverse water gas shift (RWGS) represents an interesting route for gas phase CO2 conversion. Herein, nature inspired clay-based catalysts are used to design highly effective materials, which could make this route viable for practical applications. Ni and transition metal promoted Ni saponite clays has been developed as highly effective catalysts for the RWGS. Saponite supported NiCu catalyst displayed a remarkable preference for the formation of CO over CH4 across the entire temperature range compared to the saponite supported NiCo and Ni catalysts. The NiCu sample is also highly stable maintaining ∼ 55% CO2 conversion and ∼ 80% selectivity for CO for long terms runs. Very importantly, when compared with reference catalysts our materials display significantly higher levels of CO2 conversion and CO selectivity. This confirmed the suitability of these catalysts to upgrade CO2-rich streams under continuous operation conditions.